Kyk-Over-Al closed for restoration
Stabroek News
January 27, 2004
Fort Kyk-Over-Al is closed to tourists and will remain so for the next three months while emergency restoration is undertaken.
A press release from the National Trust of Guyana (NTG) says there has been pilfering of bricks by vagrants from the base of the arch of the old Dutch fort.
The NTG said the release was intended to advise tour operators and visitors.
Fort-Kyk-Over Al is a national monument, which is the vested responsibility of the NTG, gazetted and approved by Cabinet.
It was erected at Cartabo Point in the Esssequibo River and appears to be the earliest Dutch fort.
A close-up of the base of the arch from where stones have been taken. (photo courtesy of the National Trust of Guyana)
According to the NTG website, the fort was completed in the 1620s it ground floor was used as "a storehouse and a magazine for food imports, goods received from the Indians and ammunition.
"There were three rooms on the top floor - one for the soldiers, one for the Commandeur, and one for the Secretary. All that remains of this fort is an arch.
"It is claimed that originally the fort was named Fort-ter-Hoogen after 'an influential Dutch gentleman but its name was later changed to Kyk-Over-Al,' as a result of its strategic location that allowed for the view over the Essequibo River and its tributaries.