Tournai in Wallonia

Tuesday, 12 February 2013 - 01:03 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, UNESCO World Heritage
Reading Time:  3 minutes

Town Hall © Grentidez

Town Hall © Grentidez

Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut. Along with TongerenTongeren, Tournai is the oldest city in Belgium and it has played an important role in the country’s cultural history.

As is the case with many cities in Belgium there are a number of beautiful and friendly cafés and pubs in the Grand’Place. In the middle of the Grand’Place there are a series of water fountains that are fun to observe and even play in for people of all ages. Another great interactive experience available is climbing the circular staircase to the top of the belfry.

Tournai Cathedral and Belfry © Warburg/cc-by-sa-3.0 Séminaire de Tournai © Daniel Procureur/cc-by-sa-3.0 Grand Place © Velvet/cc-by-sa-3.0 Cloth hall © LimoWreck/cc-by-sa-3.0 Art Nouveau house © Lordelicht/cc-by-sa-3.0 Town Hall © Grentidez
<
>
Séminaire de Tournai © Daniel Procureur/cc-by-sa-3.0
Tournai is considered to be one of the most important cultural sites in Belgium. The mixed Romanesque– and Gothic-style cathedral of Notre Dame de Tournai and the belfry, the oldest in Belgium, have been jointly designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Inside the cathedral, the Châsse de Notre-Dame flamande, a beautifully ornate 12th-century reliquary, gives witness to Tournai’s wealth in the Middle Ages. Other places of interest are the 13th-century Scheldt bridge (Pont-des-Trous) and the main square (Grand’Place), as well as several old city gates, historic warehouses, and a variety of museums.

On rue Barre-St-Brice are two of the oldest private houses in Europe, dating from between 1175 and 1200 and built in the Romanesque style, while the rue des Jésuites includes a Gothic house from the 13th century.

Read more on City of Tournai, VisitBelgium.com – Tournai and Wikipedia Tournai. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.



New Synagogue in Dessau

New Synagogue in Dessau

[caption id="attachment_239424" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © M H.DE/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The New Synagogue, also known as the Weill Synagogue, is a Jewish place of worship in the city center of Dessau. It is t...

Pokrovsk in Ukraine

Pokrovsk in Ukraine

[caption id="attachment_252124" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Cinema "Mir" © Artemco/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Pokrovsk, formerly known as Krasnoarmiisk (until 2016) and Grishino (until 1934), is a city and the admini...

Mafia Island in Tanzania

Mafia Island in Tanzania

[caption id="attachment_248594" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © flickr.com - Nina R/cc-by-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Mafia Island or Chole Shamba (Kisiwa cha Mafia, in Swahili) is an island of The Mafia Archipelago located in M...

National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee

National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee

[caption id="attachment_228818" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © flickr.com - Adam Moss/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum devoted to bobblehead dolls. It is located in Mi...

Aït-Benhaddou in Morocco

Aït-Benhaddou in Morocco

[caption id="attachment_227288" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © ER Bauer/cc-by-2.5[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Aït Benhaddou is a historic ighrem or ksar (fortified village) along the former caravan route between the Sahara and Mar...

Scone in Scotland

Scone in Scotland

[caption id="attachment_233270" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Scone Palace © Gunther Tschuch/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Scone (Scottish Gaelic: Sgàin; Scots: Scuin) is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The mediev...

Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area in China

Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area in China

[caption id="attachment_225043" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Pearl Shoal Waterfall © Kosigrim[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Jiuzhaigou is a nature reserve and national park located in the north of Sichuan Province in southwestern Chi...

The Flatiron District in Manhattan

The Flatiron District in Manhattan

[caption id="attachment_27910" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Flatiron District © flickr.com - Dave Lindblom/cc-by-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Flatiron District is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, nam...

Freising in Upper Bavaria

Freising in Upper Bavaria

[caption id="attachment_253878" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Marienplatz, Town Hall and St. George's Church © Violatan/cc-by-sa-2.0-de[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Freising is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital o...

Coronado in California

Coronado in California

[caption id="attachment_150592" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Hotel del Coronado © Dirk Hansen/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Coronado, also known as Coronado Island, is an affluent resort city located in San Diego County,...

Theme Week Tuscany - Montepulciano

Theme Week Tuscany - Montepulciano

[caption id="attachment_153285" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Montepulciano © Adrian Michael[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Montepulciano is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and comune in the province of Siena in southern Tuscany, ...

Residence at Cape Idokopas

Residence at Cape Idokopas

[caption id="attachment_203340" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Russian Wikileaks/cc-by-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Residence at Cape Idokopas also known as the "Palace on the Idokopas Cape", often called "Putin's Palace", "...

Return to TopReturn to Top