Penned by Tower prisonersThe Tower of London...

Penned by Tower prisoners

The Tower of London will stage battles, display intimate royal documents and offer interactive dramas in the next few months that focus on what it does best: imprison the famous.

“The Prisoner Princess,” Friday through April 18, will re-create events around the 16th century incarceration of Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth I, by her sister, Queen Mary. Reenactments will be staged several times a day.

“Prisoners of the Tower,” April 28 to Sept. 5, will display art, manuscripts and possessions of those held at the Tower from 1100 to 1945. Among these is a prayer book, with handwritten notes, owned by Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII.

Other programs include “Become a Prisoner of the Tower” (May 3) and re-creations of the 1471 storming of the Tower (May 28-June 4). The Tower of London is open daily. 011-44-870-756-6060, www.hrp.org.uk.

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Visa changes

for Turkey

and China

Starting last week it became less expensive to visit Turkey but more difficult for some Americans to visit China.

Turkey has lowered its single-entry visa price for Americans from $100 to $20. The visa, good for three months, can be bought in advance or on arrival in Turkey. (If you pay on arrival, you’ll need cash.)

Levent Demirel, director of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in New York, called the fee cut “a gesture for a friend.” The action followed the State Department’s lifting of its travel warning on Turkey, imposed Nov. 20 after terrorist bombings in Istanbul.

China, meanwhile, has tightened its visa rules. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a statement March 30, said it would no longer issue visas on arrival to U.S. passport holders. They must get visas in advance. Single-entry visas cost $50.

China also said it would require some U.S. citizens to be interviewed to get visas. It was not immediately clear who would be affected. (Tourist visas are not required for Hong Kong.)

The Foreign Ministry took its latest actions after protesting a U.S. requirement that visiting Chinese be fingerprinted.

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Statue of

Liberty to

reopen

New York

The Statue of Liberty, closed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, is expected to reopen in late summer, officials said last week. No date was announced.

Currently, tourists can visit Liberty Island but are not allowed inside the 151-foot statue or its pedestal in New York Harbor. When it reopens, they still won’t be allowed to climb to the statue’s crown, but they will be able to go to the top of the pedestal, said Brian Feeney, spokesman for the National Park Service.

There will also be a new reservation system for visits; details were not announced.

-- Times staff and wires

-- Compiled by

Jane Engle