Zutphen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈzʏtfə(n)] (listen)) is a city and municipality located in the province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It lies some 30 km northeast of Arnhem, on the eastern bank of the river IJssel at the point where it is joined by the Berkel. First mentioned in the 11th century, the place-name appears to mean “south fen” (zuid-veen in modern Dutch). In 2005, the municipality of Zutphen was merged with the municipality of Warnsveld, retaining its name. In 2019, the municipality had a population of 47,609.

Because Zutphen contains a large number of historical buildings with a tower, Zutphen is often called the tower city. Because there are almost no modern high-rise buildings in the city centre the historical tower spires are very visible and form the skyline of Zutphen. The title of tower city is often used in advertising to draw tourists to Zutphen.

Religious architecture[edit]

The Walburgis church was built as a Roman collegiate church around 1050, after that it was redecorated, rebuild and remodeled on several occasions. There are six bells in the tower, which are still rung by hand.

Since 1561 a library called the Librije was added to the church. It was founded as a public library for the rich citizens of Zutphen. These days the library contains an important collection of 15th- to 17th-century books.

The Broederen (brothers) church is a large early 14th-century monastery church of the Dominican order. Since 1983 the church has been used as the city’s public library, and it has recently been extensively restored. On top of the church there is a roof turret from 1771 that contains the porter’s bell. This bell is still rung every day between 9:50 and 10:00 pm, the time at which, until 1853, the city gates would be closed.

The Nieuwstads (new city) church houses the Catholic community. It was founded as a parish church around 1250. Since then it has been expanded, remodelled and restored many times. It has four original medieval bells.

Other interesting sights in Zutphen[edit]

The city of Zutphen had almost 400 national monuments and over 500 local monuments. It is one of the most important and well-preserved historical city centres in the Netherlands. Zutphen has a great many medieval, especially 14th-century, houses. These houses, often with ornamental facades, can be spotted all through the city centre.

When walking along the old city market you will see several large 18th- and 19th-century buildings that used to belong to well-to-do citizens and merchants.