Montelbaanstoren, Amsterdam — Guía del visitante y qué hacer cerca

The Montelbaanstoren leans slightly, and has done so since 1610, a physical testament to Amsterdam's precarious relationship with its watery foundation. Built in 1516 as a watchtower after the Guelderians burned the Lastage area in 1512, it stood as a fortification for nearly a century. Then, in 1606, the great architect Hendrick de Keyser added an octagonal superstructure and spire, transforming the plain medieval tower into something more distinctive and graceful.

What makes the tower memorable to Amsterdammers is the clock, known affectionately as "Malle Jaap," or "Crazy Jaap," because the bells rang out at completely unpredictable times. Residents learned to ignore it, which is likely what saved them from collective insanity. The tower had other quirks too. Built on Amsterdam's unstable ground, it started tilting in 1610. Engineers had to reset it using ropes and manual power, a feat of 17th-century problem-solving that somehow managed to arrest, though not fully correct, the lean.

What draws art historians to the Montelbaanstoren is Rembrandt. The master painter loved this tower and sketched it repeatedly, most famously in a 1644 drawing where he captured its peculiar charm with a few sure lines. That drawing remains one of the most vivid images of the tower we have, proof that sometimes an artist's eye sees more than a building simply is.

In 1970, the tower was designated a national monument. Today it stands as a beloved but slightly mad guardian of Amsterdam, a structure that refused to be torn down, that leans but doesn't fall, and that managed to inspire one of history's greatest painters to take up his pencil.