Munttoren, Amsterdam

Munttoren is the tower rising at Muntplein, where the Amstel and Singel meet. Its name recalls the coin mint that operated in the adjoining guard house during the seventeenth century. The tower began as part of the Regulierspoort, a medieval gateway built from 1480, with two towers and a guard house.

Fire destroyed much of the gateway in 1618, and Hendrick de Keyser gave the surviving tower its Renaissance form in 1620. Notice the distinctive upper section: an eight-sided structure carrying an open spire, a clock with four faces, and a carillon. During the crisis of 1672, the guard house struck coins here because precious metals could not safely reach the usual mints at Dordrecht and Enkhuizen.

The adjoining building is later than the tower: Willem Springer designed its replacement in 1885–1887, and an underpass was added during work in 1938–1939. The bells remain the tower’s living voice. Pieter Hemony created the carillon in 1668, and its current instrument has 38 bells. An automatic drum plays a short tune every quarter hour, while the city carillonneur changes the melodies twice a year.