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feAture Monday 2 noveMber 2020
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With no visitors, Jerusalem HEALTH

citadel undergoes major DOCTOR ON DUTY

Oranjestad
facelift Hospital 7:00 pm / 10:00pm

Tel. 527 4000
By ILAN BEN ZION total redesign of its exhibits San Nicolas
Associated Press with cutting edge media
JERUSALEM (AP) — The to tell the city's history, and Imsan 24 hours
Tel.524 8833
coronavirus pandemic the renovations are slated Women in Difficulties
may be keeping tourists for completion by early PHARMACY ON DUTY
away from Jerusalem's an- 2022. Construction material is ready for use inside the Tower of David
cient citadel, but it has cre- The overhaul includes im- Museum in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. Oranjestad:
Associated Press
ated a rare opportunity for proved accessibility, the Dakota Tel. 588 7364
San Nicolas:
the site to launch a mas- construction of a new visi- tress, particularly sections David Museum to close the San Nicolas Tel. 584 5712
sive restoration and con- tor's center and entrance, dating to the Middle Ages. museum because there Women in Difficulties
servation project. and the addition of new "All the massive renovation are no tourists, no visitors, OTHER
In the process, Israeli ar- galleries and educational that is going on right here and dedicate this period Dental Clinic 587 9850
chaeologists are study- space in an unused area is a really rare opportunity of time to the renovation Blood Bank Aruba 587 0002
ing the bastion's medieval beneath an adjacent for us archaeologists," said and to the archeological Urgent Care 586 0448
past in the hope of learn- roadway. Amit Reem, a Jerusalem ar- project."q Walk-In Doctor’s Clinic
ing more about the holy The undertaking has also chaeologist with the Israel +297 588 0539
Women in Difficulties
city during the Crusades. allowed archaeologists to Antiquities Authority. "It's a EMERGENCY
The Tower of David, the excavate previously un- pity to say, but the corona-
Old City's iconic fortress, studied areas of the for- virus enabled the Tower of Police 100
Oranjestad
527 3140
contains remnants of suc- Noord 527 3200
cessive fortifications built Sudoku Sta. Cruz 527 2900
one atop the other stretch- San Nicolas 584 5000
ing back over 2,500 years. Police Tipline 11141
For centuries, pilgrims, con- Ambulancia 911
querors and tourists visiting Fire Dept. 115
Red Cross
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the city that is holy to Ju-
daism, Christianity and Is- TAXI SERVICES
lam have passed beneath Taxi Tas 587 5900
the stronghold's towers Prof. Taxi 588 0035
through the adjacent Jaffa Taxi D.T.S. 587 2300
Gate. Taxi Serv. Aruba 583 3232
The Tower of David Muse- A1 Taxi Serv. 280 2828
um's $40 million undertak- Women in Difficulties
ing, financed in large part TRAVEL INFO
by the Clore Israel Founda- Aruba Airport 524 2424
tion, Israel's Tourism Ministry American Airlines 582 2700
and Jerusalem's municipal- Avianca 588 0059
ity, seeks to preserve the Jet Blue 588 2244
ancient site and revitalize Surinam 582 7896
the museum a generation Women in Difficulties
after it opened to the pub- AID FOUNDATIONS
lic in 1989. FAVI- Visually Impaired
The citadel drew over half Tel. 582 5051
a million visitors in 2019,
making it one of the city's Solution on Page 14 Alcoholics Anonymous
Tel. 736 2952
most visited sites. But after Narcotics Anonymous
Israel shut its borders in re- Tel. 583 8989
sponse to the coronavirus Women in Difficulties
pandemic in March, tourist Tel. 583 5400
numbers have dropped to Centre for Diabetes
virtually zero. Tel. 524 8888
While the citadel stood Child Abuse Prevention
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empty of visitors, restora-
tion work got underway in Quota Club Tel. 525 2672
Women in Difficulties
July. The galleries were gut- General Info
ted of their old exhibits and
excavations began in the Phone Directory Tel. 118
fortress's courtyard.
"This is the jewel of the
crown, because there's
no other site in Jerusalem
that will tell you, from the
finds, from the remains,
the full story," Eilat Lieber,
the Tower of David's direc-
tor and chief curator, said
Wednesday. She said the
museum is embarking on a