Munttoren
The Munttoren (English: Mint Tower) is a tower that used to be a part of the gates of medieval city wall of Amsterdam. The tower is located on the Muntplein square where the Amstel river meets the Singel canal and is worth visiting.
The Munttoren was originally a part of the gate built in the late 15th century which consisted of two towers and a guard house. The gate was severely damaged by a fire in 1618 and only the western tower and guard house remained standing. The Munttoren was afterwards rebuilt in Amsterdam Renaissance style according to the design of Hendrick de Keyser. He designed the distinctive eight-sided top half and clockwork with four clockfaces. The carillon of bells was added in 1668 but was removed in the 19th century because of changes in the clockwork mechanism. However, the manual playing system and baton keyboard was reinstalled in 1960. The guard house which also survived the fire of 1618 was rebuilt in Neo-Renaissance style in the 19th century.
The tower’s name - “Mint Tower” reveals that it was also used to mint coins. In year 1672, known as the rampjaar (“disastrous year”) the Dutch Republic was attacked by England and France, and silver and gold could not be safely transported to the coin mints. The guard house of the Munttoren was at the time temporally used to mint coins.