Zuiderkerk Tower - panoramic view from 1614 belfry - Zandstraat 17

Mjn oude woonbuurt en uitzicht. Heerlijke buurt!!

The Zuiderkerk or Janskerk was built between 1603 and 1611. The design in Renaissance style is by the Amsterdam architect Hendrick Cornelisz de Keyser, son of a furniture maker from Utrecht who came to Amsterdam around 1591 with the city engineer Cornelis Bloemaert. The Zuidertoren was not completed until 1614 and is 68 meters high. Although the church was built for Protestant worship, it still got a name, namely that of St. John (see G.D. Bom H.Gzn). The Zuidertoren can be visited in the summer months and by appointment under the guidance of a guide until the first circulation. From the tower there is a beautiful view over the former Amsterdam Jewish quarter and Nieuwmarktbuurt. In the tower is a small exhibition of carillon keyboards and clocks. Just above the roof of the Zuiderkerk, at the height of the reverberation boards in the square part of the Zuidertoren, there are four loud bells in an oak belfry. The largest (with strike tone B, a weight of 3300 kg and a diameter of 168.5 cm) was already cast in 1511 by Willem and Jasper Moer. Originally this clock with the name 'Salvator' hung in the tower of the Oude or St. Nicholas Church. The second bell (with striking tone dis, weighing 1375 kg and 129.5 cm in diameter) was cast by François Hemony. The third bell (striking F sharp) is also by François Hemony and has a weight of 800 kg and a diameter of 108.5 cm. Furthermore, in the millennium year 2000, a new fourth bell by Eijsbouts with the name 'de Vrijheid' was added to complete the ringing. This bell weighs 343 kg, has a diameter of 828 mm and has a striking tone B1.