Amsterdam's Zuiderkerk tower fully restored; made famous in Monet paintings

With the replacement of the golden weather cock on Monday, Amsterdam's Zuiderkerk tower is officially fully restored. From this week the scaffolding around the building will be removed. And soon Amsterdam will again have the tower in its original form - as made famous in a Monet painting - as part of the city's skyline.

The Zuiderkerk tower was designed 400 years ago by one of Amsterdam's most famous architects of the time: Hendrick de Keyser, AT5 reports. He chose to make the top of the tower in dark gray lead. During the previous renovation 39 years ago, the tower top was painted white. But to restore a piece of Amsterdam's history, it was decided to return the tower to its dark grey lead.

On Monday construction workers started removing scaffolding from around the tower. In the coming weeks more and more of the tower will become visible. All scaffolding will be gone by October.