Tournai Things to Do

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Also located in the town square, is the different styled church of St Quentin’s.
It's located one end of the Grand-Place, and is believed to be related to the vast Gallo-Roman cemetery that extended over the site of the Grand-Place and a neighbouring district.
Its nave dates from the end of the 12th century, and there are two round chapels, one of which houses the tomb of Jacques Castaigne (1327),
The central tower dates from the 13th century.
The interior was quite plain.

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Located quite close to the Market Square, I found the Folklore Museum. The Museum was located in building's from the 17th century, and in here were display's of daily life from birth to death in the Tournai area.
I entered, paid the small admission fee, then went wandering, seeing all the 23 exhibition halls. It was an interesting collection, including,china, different tool's, clothing, a workshop of the 'Balotil' (craftsman who used to work at home and make knitted goods), a cobbler's kitchen, games, a farm interior, workshop of the wet cooper, of the weaver, of the farrier, old tin's and different clothing, and probably much more.
I did enjoy seeing what people dress in for their festival's.

ADMISSION IN 2011....Adults 2.00 euro's

OPEN.... Tuesday 1 November 2011 to Saturday 31 March 2012 (except on: Tuesday)
Monday : 10:00-12:00 & 2-5PM
Wednesday-Saturday : 10:00-12:00 & 2 - 5PM

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The Cathedral is another UNESCO heritage listed building in Tournai. Called a 'architectural masterpiece of the medieval west," it is easy to see why when I saw it for the first time!

Another massive Church, it has five massive towers! The nave and the transept, going back to the 12th century, are in the Romance style with Norman and Rhenish influences, while the choir, completed in 1254, is Gothic.

The Treasury can be seen for 2 euros.

Notre Dame Cathedral is recognised as one of the most beautiful religious monuments anywhere in the western world.

Located in the Grand 'Place [market square] is the beautifully decorated Cloth Hall.
The Cloth Hall is one of the more elegant and recognisable buildings as it has gold on the outside, and you will see the flag's flying above the entrance.

Built over two years between 1610 and 1612, the centre square was the place where the merchants used to bring their products and sell them to those waiting in the surrounding galleries.

I really liked the sight of this attractive Belfry, but I didn't climb the 257 step's up a spiral staircase to the top. At the top, is where the room's were used as a Prison, and the view's are good!

I didn't realize a Belfry in cities of Belgium and the North of France are an emblem of municipal freedoms.

This Belfry, the oldest in Belgium and northern Europe, was built in 1188 and has been restored so that you can enter the Belfry rooms.
Used as a lookout tower to see an approaching enemy, and as a Fire lookout Tower, just like we have similar today.
The belfry watched over the safety of the citizens and symbolizing this, is a dragon, deemed always to be awake, symbolizing both protection and vigilance.

The bell-ringing right was a privilege granted to a city by its lord who happened to be the King of France, Philippe Auguste.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

ADMISSION TO CLIMB THE TOWER IS ....Adults ...2 euro

OPEN.....9.30am-12.30pm & 2-5.30pm Wed-Mon

Tournai has a mix of Art Deco and other style's of architecture.
I walked around and saw plenty of "different" decoration's and expression's of art work.
One I particularly liked, was near the Grand Place, where I saw a building with a bronze door adorned with antique- masks.
Now, this was very different, maybe even scary for very young children!

Whilst driving along a riverside road, I suddenly saw a beautiful Bridge. It was the 13th century Pont des Trous, a Bridge from Medieval military times.

It has two Towers, one known as The Bourdiel (1281) on left bank, and on the right bank is The Thieulerie, (1302-1304).
What is known as the "Curtain wall," is the part that is across the River, and that had the narrow Arrow slit's.
The Bridge was damaged in 1340, when King Edward III of England damaged its pillars during an attack, then in 1940, the English blew it up.
In 1947, the towers and pillars were raised to allow Ship's to pass underneath.
A really lovely Bridge.

Tournai is so old that each time we have to dig into its ground to build something new, chances are pretty high that we find some remaining from the past. It sounds natural to have a museum of archeology to show all these findings.
I've recently visited this museum and if it is true that the collections are very rich, they could be much better exploited. The building itself is worth the visit (the previous Mont-de-Piété built in 1622). I was expecting some explanations about the history of Tournai during the covered period (pre-historic till Frankish) or at least some more details about the different searches and where we found the different objects. Unfortunately most of the objects are just presented from a (very) scientific point of view! For example in the Frankish room, I haven't found any mention about the fact Tournai has been the capital of the kingdom, there was only a very light explanation about Childeric's tomb found in St Piat. It could however be going in the right direction, there was a model of the church that has recently been found under the St Pierre square.
Now that you are warned, this is quite a boring museum, for 2E (Jan 2004), this is still worth a visit: the different objects are awesome. Simply get an idea about their context from another source before the visit!
The masterpiece of the museum is a "sarcophagi" made of plumb.