Page 20 - AHATA

Thursday 2 OcTOber 2025 locAl
A10

Visit the natural bridges of Aruba!

(Oranjestad)—After you’ve been a tourist attraction for meters in length and 7 me- Unfortunately in 2005, the can also still visit the souvenir
visited the Alto Vista Church, many years. ters in height, making it the bridge collapsed, and the shop on the left of the bridge
the Bushiribana Gold Mill Ru- biggest natural bridge in the little beach dried up. De- entrance.
ins and the mini natural pool The bridge was formed dur- Caribbean at the time. For spite this, this site remained
that is located right next to ing thousands of years, cut many years, this site was also a tourist attraction, with While the natural bridge no
it, you’re next up around the and crafted by the wild a frequently visited beach, many visitors walking along longer is functional, there is
northern coast line must be waves that crash into the as the bridge had a small the coral cliffs of the bridge now a smaller natural bridge
the Natural Bridge. Once the coral stone walls of the opening through which the to see the spectacular view very close. This bridge is of-
largest natural bridge in the coast. Before its collapse, water would flow into the of the northern coastline and ten called the “Baby Bridge”
Caribbean, this bridge has this bridge measured 30 tiny beach. the Caribbean Sea. Visitors or “Daughter Bridge”.q

Visit the historic museum at Fort Zoutman!

(Oranjestad)—Located in the man, they are actually referring to but after a request from Lieuten- reception of unwanted members
middle of downtown Oranjestad, two separate buildings that, over ant Governor Jan Helenus in 1866, of the English military several times
situated right next to the govern- the years, have been merged: the it also became a bell tower. (The Netherlands was at constant
ment building “Cocolishi”, is one fort and the tower. That’s right, the war with England back in the co-
of the oldest buildings of Aruba: iconic 5-story, squared tower was The fort itself was originally con- lonial era).
Fort Zoutman. First constructed in not part of the original structure structed to protect the com-
1796, this site has been used (or of the fort, and is actually called merce bay of Paardenbaai from Over the years, both the fort and
left unused) in many ways and “Willem III Toren”. Constructed in pirates and other disreputable the tower had functioned as dif-
have survived eras of war and at- 1867, this tower was named af- characters roaming the Caribbe- ferent government center points,
tempted dismantling. ter the then-reigning king of The an Sea. Unlike the Willem III Toren, including a tax and stamps office.
Netherlands, Willem III. Willem III Fort Zoutman had a more tumultu- For some time these two buildings
When anyone refers to Fort Zout- Toren was originally a light tower, ous past, including the on-and-off also housed a police precinct
and jail, and even experienced
abandonment until the Cultural
Center Aruba Foundation (CCA)
petitioned for its renovation in
1964, turning the site into the His-
toric Museum it currently is.

Despite its small size, The Historic
Museum guards a rich depository
of the commercial, military and
social history of Oranjestad, offer-
ing a glance into how the social
culture of the town came to be.
If you are interested in history and
want to learn more about Aruba,
then Fort Zoutman should definite-
ly be included into your itinerary.

The museum is open Monday to
Friday from 9am-6pm, and Satur-
day from 10am-2pm.q
Source: The Old Fort of Aruba by Jan
Hartog.