Fodor's Expert Review Munttoren

This tower received its current name in 1672, when French troops occupied much of the surrounding republic, and Amsterdam was given the right to mint its own coins here for a brief one-year period. The spire was added by Hendrick de Keyser in 1620, and the weather vane on top in the shape of a gilded ox is a reference to the calves market close by: Kalverstraat. The guardhouse, which now houses a rather touristy Dutch porcelain shop, has a gable stone above its entrance that portrays two men and a dog in a boat. This is a symbolic representation of the city, in which warrior and merchant are bound together by loyalty—that would be the dog—and sailing toward the future.