Munttoren aan de Amstel Amsterdam by Hendrik-Jan Kornelis

About "Munttoren aan de Amstel Amsterdam"

by Hendrik-Jan Kornelis

About the artwork

The Munttoren, also known as De Munt, is officially called Regulierstoren and used to be part of the Regulierspoort. This city gate was one of the three main gates of Amsterdam's medieval fortifications. The gate was named after the Reguliersklooster (1394-1532). This monastery stood at the level of the later Keizersgracht outside the Regulierspoort.

The tower stands on Muntplein, which was called Schapenplein until 1877 and Sophiaplein from 1877 to 1917 (after Queen Sophie). Today, it is a busy intersection between Kalverstraat and Reguliersbreestraat, close to the flower market on the Singel. Past the tower under the small gate, one heads towards Kalverstraat or Reguliersbreestraat.

The tower's nickname refers to the fact that coins were minted in the adjacent guardhouse in the 17th century. The tower received its current name in the Disaster Year 1672, when Amsterdam was temporarily granted the right to mint coins because French troops occupied large parts of the country, and it was not possible to transport silver and gold to the mints of Dordrecht and Enkhuizen.

The Regulierspoort, built between 1480 and 1487, consisted of two towers and a guardhouse. After the gate went up in flames in 1618, it was decided to rebuild only the western tower. The blunt tower then received an octagonal superstructure and an ornate open lantern in 1619-1620 to a design by Hendrick de Keyser, containing a clockwork with four dials, and in 1668 a carillon by the Hemony Brothers. The Mint Tower is 35 metres high[.

The guardhouse, which had reasonably withstood the fire of 1618, was demolished in the nineteenth century and replaced by the present building. It was built between 1885 and 1887 in historicising neo-Renaissance style, under the direction of architect Willem Springer. During a renewal of the building in 1938-1939, a passageway was added on the ground floor.