Coin Tower

Brief Information

The name of the Mint Tower did not arise because of the tower itself. Coins were temporarily minted in the neighboring guardhouse in 1672-1674, but the name Munt became attached to the tower and the area. That is why the present-day silhouette by the Singel canal and the Amstel River is connected not only with the city's defense, but also with a brief episode that proved stronger than its earlier purpose.

The tower is important as a visible remnant of the Regulierspoort gate. The medieval gate had two towers on either side of the passage, but after a fire mainly the lower part of the western tower survived. It was not rebuilt as a gate: the old base was topped with an octagonal tier, an open crown, and a spire. This change in form shows how a defensive structure turned into an urban landmark.

What to Notice First

The main thing here is to compare the parts that look like a single silhouette but belong to different periods. The lower masonry belongs to the western tower of the medieval gate; above it begins the 17th-century octagonal superstructure. This sharp change in form explains why the tower does not look like a fortress tower built as one whole: its upper part was created after the fire and after the loss of its defensive role.

It is worth noticing the open wooden lantern with its spire and the four clock faces: they belong to the reconstruction that made the tower a prominent urban sign. On the northeastern side, a fragment of the gate has survived, later coming to resemble a buttress, a small trace of the vanished passage. Nearby, the Munttoren building is important: this later building stands on the site of the guardhouse where coins were minted, and the passage between it and the tower appeared only during the 20th-century reconstruction. The carillon adds another layer: some of its bells are older than their present location and were moved here from another tower.