Flower Market

You are at the Bloemenmarkt, Amsterdam's flower market. The curious thing is not obvious at first: the stalls in front of you are not on dry land but on barges moored in the Singel canal. The market has been held here since 1862, and the tradition recalls the days when florists arrived by boat from the nurseries outside the city to sell straight from the water.

1Tulip mania

The bulbs on sale have a surprising history. In 1636 and 1637, rare tulips fetched absurd prices in the Netherlands, and some bulbs changed hands for sums equal to a house. In February 1637 the market collapsed. Historians now debate how much that 'tulip mania' was exaggerated, but the term has survived as the symbol of speculative bubbles.

The flower you can buy today for a few euros was, for a few months, an object of speculation.

2The Mint Tower

At the end of the market stands the Munttoren, the Mint Tower. It is what remains of the Regulierspoort, a gate in the medieval city wall that burned down in 1618. Hendrick de Keyser added the spire you see today. Its name comes from an episode in 1672, the 'Disaster Year', when the war with France made it impossible to take silver to the usual mints, and for a time coins were struck here.

3What to look out for

• The stalls on the water: look at them from behind, from the bridge, to see the barges.
• The tulip bulbs, with their variety labels.
• The spire of the Munttoren, with its carillon.