Editing Amersfoort (section)

=== Antiquity ===
[[File:Koppelpoort Amersfoort 2008.jpg|thumb|[[Koppelpoort]]]]
[[File:Amersfoort, de Monnikendam RM8053 positie1 2012-12-08 11.14.jpg|thumb|Monnikendam]]
Remains of settlements dating to  1000&nbsp;BC have been found in the Amersfoort area. The name Amersfoort, after a [[ford (river)|ford]] in the Amer River, today called the [[Eem]], first appeared in the 11th century. The city grew around what is now the ''Hof'', where the [[Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht|Bishops of Utrecht]] established a court in order to control the "{{Interlanguage link multi|Gelderse Vallei|nl}}" area. It was granted city rights in 1259 by the bishop of Utrecht, [[Henry I van Vianden]]. A first defensive wall, made of brick, was completed around 1300 but expansion led to the construction of a new wall in 1380, which was completed around 1450. The [[Koppelpoort]], a combined land and water gate, is part of this second wall. The first wall was demolished and houses were built in its place. Today's ''Muurhuizen'' (wallhouses) Street is located where the first wall stood.

The ''[[Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren|Onze-Lieve-Vrouwentoren]]'' (Tower of [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Our Lady]])<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.skyscrapercity.info/100.php?id=4&bid=1185 |title= Onze Lieve Vrouwentoren |access-date= 26 March 2008 |publisher= SkyscraperCity |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070928003736/http://www.skyscrapercity.info/100.php?id=4&bid=1185 |archive-date= 28 September 2007 |df= dmy-all}}</ref> is one of the tallest medieval church towers in the Netherlands at {{convert|98|m|ft|0}}. When it was built, it was the middle point of The Netherlands,<ref>{{cite web |title=Wat te doen in Amersfoort? |date=30 June 2021 |url=https://www.wearetravellers.nl/europa/wat-te-doen-in-amersfoort-10-tips/ |publisher=Roëlle}}</ref> it was exactly built in the center and a reference for the Dutch grid system. The nickname of the tower is Lange Jan ('Long John').<ref>{{cite web |title=Amersfoort - Middle point of the Netherlands |url=http://www.onzelievevrouwetoren.nl/english/ |publisher=OnzeLieveVrouwenToren |access-date=16 April 2019 |archive-date=26 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026045944/https://www.onzelievevrouwetoren.nl/english/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The construction of the tower and the church was started in 1444. The church was destroyed by an explosion in 1787, but the tower survived, and the layout of the church still can be discerned today through the use of different types of stone in the pavement of the open space that was created. It is now the reference point of the [[Geography of the Netherlands|RD coordinate system]], the coordinate grid used by the Dutch topographical service: the RD coordinates are (155.000, 463.000).

The inner city of Amersfoort has been preserved well since the [[Middle Ages]]. Apart from the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwetoren, the [[Koppelpoort]], and the ''Muurhuizen'' (Wall-houses), there is also the Sint-Joriskerk (Saint George's church), the canal-system with its bridges, as well as medieval and other old buildings; many are designated as national monuments. In the Middle Ages, Amersfoort was an important centre for the textile industry, and there were a large number of breweries. [[Jews]] also lived in Amersfoort in the Middle Ages, before being expelled from the province in 1546 and beginning to return to the city in 1655.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Jewish Community of Amersfoort |url=https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/amersfoort |publisher=The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot |access-date=17 June 2018 |archive-date=17 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617093421/https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/amersfoort |url-status=dead }}</ref>