Page 12 - ATA

A13
Friday 18 May 2018

‘Take your car off the beaten track to 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 not lack 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
decide whether it will be Anne Witsenburg, director of the Monumentsfund Aruba, at the entrance of her office.
a protected monument or
not. “The building or ob- ject needs to be at least 50 years old, a special value Curacao used to be a very colonial time, so any Indi-
in architecture or to history wealthy island where many an willing to live here was
or to the people of Aruba -mainly Dutch- merchants given a small piece of land
is required and there has to lived close together and to build his home. “That
be a certain uniqueness. If that is the reason you find is the reason you find all
it was changed too much this typical colonial Dutch these typical small houses
throughout time or there style buildings packed in scattered around the is-
are already any of the certain areas nowadays. land. We actually have the
same kind it is a no go.” They are celebrating 20 same amount of monu-
years of Unesco heritage ments as Curacao though
Useless islands this year. Than scattered way smaller.”
There is a difference be- around the rest of the is-
tween the islands when it land you will see the small- Magic local touch
comes to monuments, as er country houses.” Aruba Some of the monuments
Witsenburg explains. “That and Bonaire were called owned by the Monument-
goes back to their history. the useless islands in the 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
your personal people
guide.

Continued on Page 14
Lighthouse renovated in the present (left); California Lighthouse in the 1950’s (right).