gemeente (municipality), 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 13th–16th-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.