Amersfoort

Amersfoort grew fast enough in the fourteenth century that it needed a second, larger wall, and rather than demolish the first outright the city sold the line to citizens who built houses directly onto and into it - so the muurhuizen, the wall houses, form a continuous ring of dwellings following the old defensive circuit exactly, with medieval masonry in their backs. It is a legible piece of urban history you can walk in an hour. The Koppelpoort, a water and land gate of about 1425 spanning the Eem, is the other landmark: it still has its wheel mechanism, worked by men walking inside a treadwheel to raise the water gate, and it is demonstrated on tours. The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwetoren is ninety-eight metres, one of the tallest church towers in the country, standing alone since the church blew up in 1787 when gunpowder stored inside it ignited.

History

Mesolithic hunter-gatherers camped here, and settlements of around 1000 BC have been found. The name, after a ford in the Amer river, now the Eem, first appears in the 11th century, the town grew around the Hof, and it celebrated 750 years as a city in 2009 (Wikipedia, Amersfoort).

Highlights

• Wall houses in a ring - dwellings built into the line of the demolished first wall.
• The Koppelpoort - a 1425 water and land gate with its treadwheel mechanism.
• A tower standing alone - the church blown up in 1787 by stored gunpowder.
• A medieval circuit walkable - the whole first wall line followed in about an hour.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Good to know

The Koppelpoort interior is seen only on guided tours at set times. The tower climb is by tour and books ahead. Museums close on Mondays. The wall houses are private homes.

Nearby

Soesterduinen and the military museum are west; Utrecht is south-west.

Key facts