De Waag (Weigh House), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

This was formerly St. Anthony's Gate, the only surviving medieval fortified gate built in the 1480's and becoming part of the city wall. It was converted to a weigh house for various foodstuffs and anchors in 1617, the upper floor being used by guilds, amongst them the Surgeons Guild. Rembrandt was a frequent guest at the lectures on anatomy and used these as inspiration for his paintings 'Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp' and 'Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Joan Deijman'. It was the use of the surgeons which prevented the building being demolished, and later in 1819 it became a fire station, as well as archive storage and at times museums. It is now a cafe.