The tower is one of the main tourist attractions of Groningen and offers a view over the city and surrounding area.

The front of the tower shows three pictures above the entrance: the blind poet Bernlef, Saint Martinus, and Rudolf Agricola.

The citizens of Groningen call their tower d'Olle Grieze, meaning the old grey one in the local dialect.

The lighting of celebratory fires on the third gallery, after the departure of Spanish and Walloon troops in 1577, caused the tower to partially collapse.

There is a bullet hole in one of the bells, a result of heavy fighting when the Canadian Forces liberated Groningen at the end of World War II.