Schreierstoren (De), Amsterdam

At the head of the Gelderse Kade and alongside the Prins Hendrikkade stands the Schreierstoren. This massive semicircular brick tower is a left-over from the medieval town ramparts. As the story goes, the bargees stood there weeping over their men sailing for the East, hence its name of the Tower of Weeping. A more rational explanation for the tower's name is the appearance of the words 't Scrayhoeck and Scrayhorn in old texts describing the location of the tower, which was almost in the waters of river IJ that always threatened the land. The Schreierstoren now functions as a maritime antiquarian bookshop and a gay bar.