Munttoren
The Munt Tower and Munt de ( Mint Tower ) is a tower in the center of Amsterdam. This is a part of the former city gate Regulierspoort, which belonged to the former city wall. There were originally two towers and a guard house that had been built in 1480-1487. 1618 burned down both towers, then only the west tower was built up again. The tower stump 1619-1620 was an octagonal building with an open cupola, after a design by Hendrick de Keyser, four dials and a carillon.
The carillon was cast in 1650 by the brothers Hemony. 1873, the bells were sold as scrap metal, they can be seen in the Amsterdam Historical Museum. Currently, there is a carillon of 38 bells, eleven more than originally. Every quarter of an hour operated mechanical musical movement, the bells, and the half and full hour strike the bell time. Every Saturday 14-15 clock are city carillon Gideon Bodden a concert.
The name of the tower refers to the fact that here coins were struck in the 17th century. The tower was in the Dutch fateful year ( Rampjaar ) its current name in 1672, when Amsterdam was a time right to Münzschlagen.
At that time, large parts of the Netherlands by France were occupied, and it was not possible to transport gold and silver coins in Dordrecht and Enkhuizen. The coins were minted in the guardhouse.
The guard house, which had survived the fire of 1618, was demolished in the 19th century and replaced by the present building. It was built in Neo-Renaissance style. During construction during 1938 and 1939 on the ground floor, a passage was created.
The tower stands on the Muntplein, a very busy intersection at the beginning of the Kalverstraat and Rokin and at the end of the Flower Market ( Flower Market ) on the Singel. The Muntplein is actually a wide bridge, where the Singel discharges into the river Amstel. This is the widest bridge in the center of Amsterdam and the number one in the Amsterdam Bridge Inventory.
Because of the construction of the new north-south line of the subway, the foundations of the tower must be reinforced, otherwise there is a risk that it will sag.