Tower sights in Amsterdam
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A
Montelbaanstoren
The lower part of this striking tower was built to strengthen Amsterdam’s eastern defences in 1512. Positioned on the old city wall, it gave sentries a good view of suspicious characters on the wharves along Oude Schans. The octagonal base and open wooden steeple were added in 1606 to dampen the bells on the clock after the neighbours complained. Just a few years later the tower began to list under the weight, but residents attached cables and pulled it upright. The elegant tower has two sets of bellworks, four clock faces and a nautical vane like the one on the top of the Oude Kerk.
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B
Zuiderkerk
The Zuiderkerk was built in the early 1600s. It was the first custom-built Protestant church in Amsterdam (based on a Catholic design). During the ‘Hunger Winter’ of WWII it served as a morgue. Now it’s a city-run info centre for Amsterdam’s various urban expansion plans, shown in intriguing exhibits.
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C
Oude Kerk
It is the city’s oldest surviving building (from 1306) built to honour the city’s patron saint, St Nicholas (the inspiration for red-suited Saint Nick). In one of Europe’s great moral contradictions, the tower, arguably Amsterdam’s most beautiful, commands a magnificent view – one that includes the Red Light District. But maybe the view’s no contradiction at all: some of the 15th-century carvings on the choir stalls are downright naughty. There’s also a stunning Müller organ, gilded oak vaults and stained-glass windows from 1555. As in the Nieuwe Kerk, many famous Amsterdammers are buried under worn tombstones, including Rembrandt’s first wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh.…
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