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LOCAL Thursday 7 March 2024

Aruba to me

ORANJESTAD — You are
back and we would like to
portrait you! By inviting you
to send us your favorite va-
cation picture while enjoy-
ing our Happy Island.

Complete the sentence:
Aruba to me is ……. Send
your picture with that text
(including your name and
where you are from) to:
news@arubatoday.com Newspaper, Caribbean and Facebook page! She wrote to us saying: the restaurants are great,

and we will publish your Speed Printers and any of Thank you for supporting “Aruba to me is Tranquility. the weather is perfect &
vacation memory. Isn’t its affiliated companies to our free newspaper, we We have been coming to we ALWAYS have so much
that a special way to keep use said materials, as well strive to make you a happy Aruba for over 40 years & fun.”
your best moments alive? as names, likeness, etc. for reader every day again. consider it our 2nd home.
Please do note: By submit- promotional purposes with- For today we received a We stay approximately 6 Thank you for sending us this
ting photos, text or any oth- out compensation. lovely message from our weeks each year at the Divi wonderful message sharing
er materials, you give per- Last but not least: check awesome visitor Betty. Phoenix. The Aruban resi- what Aruba means to you
mission to The Aruba Today out our website, Instagram dents are so welcoming, with us and our readers!q

Visit the historic museum at Fort Zoutman!

(Oranjestad)—Located in the middle of down- called “Willem III Toren”. Constructed in 1867,
town Oranjestad, situated right next to the this tower was named after the then-reigning
government building “Cocolishi”, is one of the king of The Netherlands, Willem III. Willem III To-
oldest buildings of Aruba: Fort Zoutman. First ren was originally a light tower, but after a re-
constructed in 1796, this site has been used quest from Lieutenant Governor Jan Helenus
(or left unused) in many ways and have sur- in 1866, it also became a bell tower.
vived eras of war and attempted dismantling.
The fort itself was originally constructed to
When anyone refers to Fort Zoutman, they protect the commerce bay of Paardenbaai
are actually referring to two separate build- from pirates and other disreputable charac-
ings that, over the years, have been merged: ters roaming the Caribbean Sea. Unlike the
the fort and the tower. That’s right, the iconic Willem III Toren, Fort Zoutman had a more
5-story, squared tower was not part of the tumultuous past, including the on-and-off re-
original structure of the fort, and is actually ception of unwanted members of the English
military several times (The Netherlands was at Despite its small size, The Historic Museum
constant war with England back in the colo- guards a rich depository of the commercial,
nial era). military and social history of Oranjestad, of-
Over the years, both the fort and the tower fering a glance into how the social culture of
had functioned as different government cen- the town came to be. If you are interested in
ter points, including a tax and stamps office. history and want to learn more about Aruba,
For some time these two buildings also housed then Fort Zoutman should definitely be includ-
a police precinct and jail, and even experi- ed into your itinerary.
enced abandonment until the Cultural Cen-
ter Aruba Foundation (CCA) petitioned for its The museum is open Monday to Friday from
renovation in 1964, turning the site into the His- 9am-6pm, and Saturday from 10am-2pm.q
toric Museum it currently is.
Source: The Old Fort of Aruba by Jan Hartog.