Page 22 - AHATA

A13
Saturday 9 June 2018

‘Go Off the Beaten Track and Meet our Monuments and Their Stories’

ORANJESTAD - The mix of
cultures in Aruba is very
visible in its architecture as,
like in all cultures, monu-
ments reflect your history
and your people. If you
take the chance to leave
the beach for a little while
and take your car off the
beaten track you will be
surprised what you see.
Anne Witsenburg is direc-
tor of the Monumentsfund
Aruba and points out pre-
cisely why a monumental
trip should be included in
your vacation’s itinerary.

The fund owns 12 monu-
ments, out of the 36 pro-
tected monuments in the
island. “But there are over
300 more monuments on
the list to be protected
and of course we dream
to see that become real-
ity as soon as possible.” The
international guidelines
that apply for monuments Anne Witsenburg, director of the Monumentsfund Aruba, at the entrance of her office.
decide whether it will be
a protected monument or ject needs to be at least 50 in architecture or to history Curacao used to be a very the useless islands in the
not. “The building or ob- years old, a special value or to the people of Aruba wealthy island where many colonial time, so any Indi-
is required and there has to -mainly Dutch- merchants an willing to live here was
be a certain uniqueness. If lived close together and given a small piece of land
it was changed too much that is the reason you find to build his home. “That
throughout time or there this typical colonial Dutch is the reason you find all
are already any of the style buildings packed in these typical small houses
same kind it is a no go.” certain areas nowadays. scattered around the is-
They are celebrating 20 land. We actually have the
Useless Islands: years of Unesco heritage same amount of monu-
There is a difference be- this year. Then scattered ments as Curacao though
tween the islands when it around the rest of the is- way smaller.”
comes to monuments, as land you will see the small-
Witsenburg explains. “That er country houses.” Aruba Magic Local Touch:
goes back to their history. and Bonaire were called Some of the monuments
owned by the Monument-
fund Aruba are the light
house, town hall, water
tanks in both Oranjestad
and San Nicolas. “We are
wealthy in different styled
monuments and my sug-
gestion is to discover this
world outside of the tourist
zone. The book Monumen-
tal Guide comes in handy
as there are three maps in-
side that guide you to the
monuments and tell you
about them. But there are
also possibilities to have
a personal tour guide.

Continued on Next Page

Lighthouse renovated in the present (left); California Lighthouse in the 1950’s (right).