The Muntplein ( Mint Square) is a square in the centre of Amsterdam . The square is in fact a bridge — the widest bridge in Amsterdam — that crosses the Singel canal at the point where it flows into the Amstel river. All bridges in Amsterdam are numbered, and the Muntplein carries the number 1.
12-450: Muntplein is named after the Munttoren (or simply Munt) tower that stands on this square. This tower was once part of one of the three main medieval city gates. In the 17th century, it temporarily served as a mint , hence the name. The guard house building attached to the tower is not the original medieval structure but a late 19th-century fantasy. An underpass was added to the building during
24-493: A 1938–1939 renovation. The name "Muntplein" dates from 1917. The square was originally known as Schapenplein ("sheep square") and, from 1877 to 1917, as Sophiaplein (after Queen Sophia , first wife of William III ). The square is a bustling intersection of six streets. It forms the southern end of the Kalverstraat shopping street and the major street Rokin . The eastern end of the floating flower market ( Bloemenmarkt ) along
36-496: A manual playing system was re-installed. Some of the original smaller Hemony bells have been damaged over the years by pollution from the traffic round the tower and have been replaced by new bells in 1959 and 1993. The original smaller Hemony bells are now on display in the Amsterdam Museum . The current carillon consists of 38 bells (2 more than the original carillon had). Only 13 original Hemony bells remained. A mechanism causes
48-622: Is a tower in Amsterdam , Netherlands. It stands on the busy Muntplein square, where the Amstel river and the Singel canal meet, near the flower market and the eastern end of the Kalverstraat shopping street. The tower was originally part of the Regulierspoort, one of the main gates in Amsterdam's medieval city wall . The gate, built in the years 1480, consisted of two towers and a guard house. After
60-509: Is not the original medieval structure but a 19th-century fantasy. The original guard house, which had survived the fire of 1618 relatively unscathed, was replaced with a new building during 1885–1887 in Neo-Renaissance style. The architect was Willem Springer . An underpass between the tower and the building was made during the 1938-1939 renovation. The Munttoren received new extra foundations to prevent it from sagging during construction of
72-534: The Noord/Zuidlijn , the new metro line. The city has allocated 1.9 million euros for this purpose, according to a May 17, 2006 report in the newspaper Het Parool . The carillon was made in 1668 by Pieter Hemony , who added new bells to the instrument that he and his brother François had made earlier for the tower of the Amsterdam stock exchange in 1651. He also made a bronze drum for automatic music to announce
84-802: The Netherlands, is a former foundry, one of the oldest family-owned businesses in the Netherlands, with the foundry dating back to 1660. Petit & Fritsen was a foundry that cast bells from tintinnabulous bell metal . The bells could be mounted as individual striking instruments, as for example in a clock tower ; could be combined into striking chimes ; or could be mounted in complex carillons . In 2014 Royal Eijsbouts , in Asten, acquired bell foundry Petit & Fritsen, their last Dutch competitor. Foundry activities in Aarle-Rixtel were terminated and re-allocated to Asten. This Dutch corporation or company article
96-536: The Singel canal is directly south of the square. Six tram lines (4, 9, 14, 16, 24 and 25) stop at Muntplein, but only when travelling south. The building on Muntplein at the intersection of the Kalverstraat and Rokin is an early design by prominent Dutch architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage . Munttoren The Munttoren ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmʏnˌtoːrə(n)] ; "Mint Tower") or Munt ( [mʏnt] )
108-450: The bells to chime every quarter of an hour. Twice a year the pins on the drum are changed by the city carillonneur . Weekly on Saturdays, between 2 and 3 p.m., Gideon Bodden, the Amsterdam city carillonneur gives a live concert on the bells. 52°22′01″N 4°53′36″E / 52.36694°N 4.89333°E / 52.36694; 4.89333 Petit %26 Fritsen Royal Bellfounders Petit & Fritsen , located in Aarle-Rixtel,
120-472: The gate went up in flames in a 1618 fire, only the guard house and part of the western tower remained standing. The tower was then rebuilt in Amsterdam Renaissance style in 1620, with an eight-sided top half and elegant open spire designed by Hendrick de Keyser , featuring a clockwork with four clockfaces and a carillon of bells. The name of the tower refers to the fact that the guard house on
132-601: The side of it was used to mint coins in the 17th century. In the Rampjaar ("year of disaster") of 1672, when both England and France declared war on the Dutch Republic and French troops occupied much of the country, silver and gold could no longer be safely transported to Dordrecht and Enkhuizen (where coins were normally minted), so the guard house of the Munttoren was temporarily used to mint coin. The present guard house
SECTION 10
#1732852338936144-449: The strike of the hour and half hour bell. It also chimes on the quarter with a short melody. The old drum is still functional. In 1873, the original baton keyboard was removed from the carillon, in favor of changes to the clockwork mechanism. Since that year the Munt clock also had a minute arm. In 1960 when the carillon was restored by Petit & Fritsen from Aarle Rixtel , a baton keyboard as
#935064