Amersfoort

Netherlands
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://mainten.top/place/Amersfoort
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Amersfoort, gemeente (municipality), central Netherlands, on the Eem (formerly Amer) River. The site (the name means “ford on the Amer”) was fortified in the 12th century. Its medieval street pattern and some old walls remain, as does the Koppelpoort (a water gate dating from about 1400 and spanning the Eem). Landmarks include the 13th–16th-century Sint Joris Church and the Gothic Tower of Our Lady (the bell tower of a church destroyed in 1787). There is a regional museum, a government archaeological research station, and a Jansenist college.

Amersfoort is now a centre for poultry raising and market gardening, and since World War II there has been rapid development of light industry, chiefly the manufacture of metals and chemicals. Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, the Dutch statesman, was born in the town in 1547, as was the painter Piet Mondrian in 1872. Pop. (2007 est.) 139,054.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.