Westerkerk
Built between 1620 and 1631 by Hendrick de Keyser, the Dutch Renaissance-style Westerkerk was the largest Protestant church in the world until St. Paul's Cathedral in London was built in 1675. The Westerkerk's 85-meter-tall Ouwe Wester, still the tallest church tower in the city, is topped by a bright blue copy of the crown of the Habsburg emperor Maximilian I, who gave Amsterdam the right to use his royal insignia in 1489 in gratitude for support given to the Austro-Burgundian princes.
The church is renowned for its organ and carillon (there are regular lunchtime concerts from March through September). The carillon is played every Tuesday at noon by a real person (a carillonneur) but is automated at other times with different songs tinkling out on the quarter hour, day and night. Anne Frank described the tunes in her diary. Rembrandt, who lived on Rozengracht during his poverty-stricken last years, and his son, Titus, are buried (somewhere) here. The Westertoren (Westerkerk Tower) is a fun climb from April to the end of October, though it's closed for renovations until 2025.
