Weeping tower

Amsterdam's "WeepingTower" was formerly part of the city's defensive walls, and used to be connected to The Waag by a wall. It was built in the 15th century. It gets this name "Wailing Tower" from the fact that the wives of sailors would gather there and weep as their men set sail and left Amsterdam's harbour. The fatality rate on voyages to the far east was around 60%, and so many of the women knew that they may not see their men again. Of course, maybe some of those tears were actually tears of joy!

Now the tower is actually called the Schreierstoren which is incorrectly translated to the weeper’s tower in English so many dismiss these weeping wive stories as myth. However, there is a commemorative stone here from 1566 that tells a story about a woman going completely insane over the news of her husband’s death and it is claimed that whenever there is a ship wreck, even today, soft crying can be heard in this area coming from an indistinguishable location.

This is also the location that Henry Hudson set sail from in 1609 – there is a commemoration plaque for this. Henry Hudson was the Englishman hired by the VOC to find the northern route west to the East Indies, but instead discovered Hudson Bay and Manhattan Island, which of course became New Amsterdam and now New York Hudson Bay. Henry Hudson was a controversial figure suspicious to the British and detested by North American natives and fur traders. On his return voyage he faced a mutiny by his Dutch crew in 1611 where his son and him were can off the ship and died.