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TOURIST ATTRACTIONS: WHAT TO VISIT IN TOURNAI

The Grand-Place, is the central square of Tournai, triangular, it's surrounded by noble palaces of the seventeenth century and is dominated by the Belfry (now UNESCO World Heritage), the civic tower of the 12th century, the tower rises to 72 metres above the square and inside houses a carillon of 43 bells. Among the buildings around the square are the Halle aux Draps (the market tissue) fine Renaissance built in 1610, the Conciergerie des Halles, 1612, the Hotel du Bailliage (royal court) of 1640, and the Granary Decime of the St. Martin Abbey (Grange aux Dimes de l'Abbaye Saint-Martin) of 1633. At one end of the square is the Church of Saint-Quentin, twelfth century. A short distance from the Grand-Place is the majestic Cathedral of Notre-Dame (UNESCO World Heritage Site) in the Romanesque style, is one of the most important architectural monuments of Belgium, built in the first half of the twelfth century, is dominated by five towers places above the transept, the building has a great internal aisle to four storeys, all architectural solutions precursors of the Gothic style; notable is the wealth of sculptures in its capitals, and its portals, particularly in the north portal (1141-71), Only the choir is pure Gothic (1242-55). Inside are kept numerous works of art including a famous Crucifixion of Christ called Tournai Christ, as well as paintings by Metsys, Jordaens, Rubens, and a small museum of medieval treasures, including a Byzantine cross with enamel, pearls and precious stones the fifth century, and the case of Notre-Dame, Nicolas de Verdun, 1205, and antique tapestries.

The current Town Hall (Hotel de Ville) is located on the premises of the Abbey of St. Martin (Abbaye Saint-Martin), the building built in 1763 is surrounded by a beautiful park. Among other churches in the city: the Church of Saint-Jacques, Gothic church, with murals of the fifteenth century, and the Church of Saint-Brice. Among the works of fortifications significant is the so-called Fort Rouge, a defensive tower of the thirteenth century. The Pont des Trous represents one of the most important vestiges of military medieval Belgium, part of the second walls (13th-14th century), is a fortified bridge which defended the course of the Scheldt in the stretch in which crossed the city, the bridge could reduce grids that closed the pace to craft, the bridge is defended by two massive towers the Tour de la Thieulerie (1302-1304) and the Tour du Bourdiel, on the side of the Cathedral (1281). Of the walls of the city remain some ruins of the first wall municipal twelfth century in rue Saint-Georges, place Reine Astrid and in the garden of Episcopal Seminary. While were part of the second wall of municipal thirteenth century, whose path is the path of the current boulevard, the Pont des Trous, and the towers Marvis and Saint-Jean.