From the water
This was the location from which Henry Hudson set sail on his journey to find a rumoured Northeast Passage to Cathay, via a route above the Arctic Circle. In 1609 he landed in North America on behalf of the Dutch East India Company, and explored the region around the modern New York metropolitan area, which he then called New Amsterdam. Cities in New York such as Harlem and Brooklyn are named after cities in the Netherlands. Haarlem is ten minutes away from Amsterdam, and Breukelen thirty minutes. And Wall Street comes from De Wallen, the Red Light District, because the first stock ever sold was sold by the VOC company in Amsterdam, where everyone could invest in a ship. The Weeper's Tower is known mainly for the fact that women wept there for their husbands, who would leave from that port to go to war. While many in history have called this weeping a myth, there is one thing that may prove it a fact: there is a memory tablet in the tower dating back to 1566, which commemorates a woman who was so heart grieved at the departure of her husband that she went insane.
The story behind it
The Weeper’s Tower, built around 1480, was part of the medieval city wall. Legend says it got its name from the women who waved goodbye here to sailors leaving on long voyages, not knowing if they would ever return.
In 1609 Henry Hudson set sail from this spot on the voyage that led him to the river that now bears his name in New York. A plaque on the tower still commemorates his journey.
On your cruise
This is stop 6 of 23 on the Friendship route. Before this you passed Amsterdam Central Station, and the boat continues towards The Shipping House. Your skipper will point it out as you pass — keep your camera ready, because from the water you see details that are easily missed from the street.
Want to see it in person? All our cruises follow the heart of this route, and with a private cruise you can even ask your skipper to linger a little longer at your favourite spots.
