AMERSFOORT

gemeente (commune), in Utrecht provincie (province), central Netherlands, on the Eem (formerly Amer) River. The site (the name means ford on the Amer) was fortified in the 12th century. Its medieval street pattern and some old walls remain, as does the Koppelpoort (a water gate dating from about 1400 and spanning the Eem). Landmarks include the 13th16th-century Sint Joris Church and the Gothic Tower of Our Lady (the bell tower of a church destroyed in 1787). There is a regional museum, a government archaeological research station, and a Jansenist college. Amersfoort is now a centre for poultry raising and market gardening, and since World War II there has been rapid development of light industry, chiefly the manufacture of metals and chemicals. Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, the Dutch statesman, was born in the town in 1547. Pop. (1994 est.) 110,117.