Curaçao - Adventure Guide to Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao - page 228

Museum Kurá Hulanda is a lovely tribute to Africa and the citizens
it lost to slavery. The circular central courtyard holds a double slap-in-the-
face reminder of the cruelty inflicted on so many - two tall pillars support-
ing a crossbeam and an antique ship's bell. The bell was used to summon
slaves to work; the crossbeam to tie them for beatings. Depressions worn
into the wooden beam perfectly fit a man's wrists.
The thread that ties this African exhibit to Curaçao is the Dutch West
India Company, whose most profitable merchandise was human beings.
The museum stands on ground once used as a slave market - a Dutch yard
- Kurá Hulanda.

434-7765.
Elsewhere in the reborn complex, 65 buildings have been refurbished
according to strict UNESCO preservation guidelines. No outer walls or
supporting interior structures have been removed, and everything has
been painted or refinished to conform to the original design. Now shops,
restaurants, and overnight villa accommodations occupy the colorful
buildings. Narrow cobblestone streets wind among the former homes,
warehouses, and small businesses that so closely resemble a 19th-century
Dutch village, they might be found in Amsterdam - or Disney World.
Outside Kurá Hulanda's walls, Otrobanda is guarded on the Caribbean
side by Riffort , built in 1828. Its restored ramparts now shelter Riffort
Village, a shopping and entertainment center that offers panoramic views
of Punda and the sea. At the other end of the waterfront road, just past the
cruise ship terminal, is Arawak Craft Products , a small ceramics fac-
tory with an open workroom where artisans turn out miniature replicas of
Curaçao's most noted mansions.
Inland, many streets are littered with construction projects as more build-
ings are being renovated. Conditioned walkers and devoted fans of archi-
tecture find many treasures among the clutter. Belvedere , across from
Leonard B. Smith Plaza (named for the US consul who built the floating
Emma Bridge), is one of the most impressive. The grand white-trimmed
yellow house was built in the mid-1800s and was once the governor's resi-
dence. Today, it hold the offices of a law firm, and the interior reception
area is open to visitors during business hours. The Monument Foundation
occupies the lovely mansion next door, and Leonard Smith's former home,
Washington Villa, is behind a wooden fence across the plaza.
The Curaçao Museum is on the far western edge of Otrobanda, a fairly
long walk from the waterfront, on Anthony van Leeuwenhoekstraat. The
two-level landhuis-style building constructed in 1853 was once a hospital
and now houses antique furniture, Indian artifacts, and local art. The
lovely landscaped grounds are used for cultural events and concerts.
Otrobanda and Punda are connected across St. Anna Bay by the floating
pontoon Koningin Emmabrug (Queen Emma Bridge) , named for
Queen Emma of the Netherlands, who reigned from 1890 to 1898. The
original bridge was designed by US Consul Leonard B. Smith in 1888 as a
toll bridge and, until 1934, a small coin was collected from everyone who