Page 16 - AHATA
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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.
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