Waag, Amsterdam

This turreted brick building on the Nieuwmarkt began around 1488 as a city gate in the medieval wall before being converted into a public weigh house. Its upper floors once held guild rooms, including an anatomy theatre where surgeons performed public dissections, the setting immortalised in Rembrandt's famous anatomy lesson painting. Over the centuries it has served as a fire station, museum and archive. Today it houses a cafe and a media research institute, while its distinctive form anchors the surrounding market square.