The Belfry of Tournai () is a freestanding

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

origin in

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

, Belgium, in height with a 256-step stairway. This landmark building is one of a set of

Belfries of Belgium and France The Belfries of Belgium and France are a group of 56 historical buildings designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, in recognition of the civic (rather than church) Belfry (architecture), belfries serving as an architectural manifestation of ...

registered on the

UNESCO World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in recognition of their civic architecture and importance in the rise of municipal power in Europe.

History

Construction of the belfry began around 1188 when

King Philip Augustus Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), also known as Philip Augustus (), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks (Latin: ''rex Francorum''), but from 1190 onward, Philip became the firs ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

granted Tournai its town charter, conferring among other privileges the right to mount a communal bell to ring out signals to the townsfolk. The tower in its original form was evocative of the feudal

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

, with a square cross section and crenelated

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

. It served in part as a watchtower for spotting fires and enemies. The growing city saw fit to expand the belfry in 1294, raising it by an additional stage, and buttressing its corners with four polygonal towerlets. A soldier statue was placed atop each towerlet, and a dragon icon surmounted the entire structure. The dragon, symbol of power and vigilance, also adorns other old tower tops in Belgium, including those of the Cloth Hall of Ypres and the

Belfry of Ghent The Belfry of Ghent () is one of three medieval towers that overlook the old city centre of Ghent, Belgium; the other two belonging to Saint Bavo's Cathedral and Saint Nicholas' Church. Its height of makes it the tallest belfry in Belgium. Th ...

. A fire damaged the building in 1391. In the period 1392 - 1400 the belfry was repaired.https://www.tournai.be/beffroi-patrimoine-unesco#:~:text=Le%20Beffroi%20de%20Tournai%20symbolise,Tournai%20et%20de%20ses%20alentours. The city obtained new bells to replace the ruined ones, and affixed gilded decorations to the newly restored top part of the tower:

mermen Mermen may refer to: * The Mermen, a music group *Merman A merman (: mermen; also merlad or merboy in youth), the male counterpart of the mythical female mermaid, is a legendary creature which is human from the waist up and fish-like from the w ...

, banners, and a new dragon. The largest bell of this period, called ''Bancloque'', and the fire bell or ''Timbre'', have been preserved to this day. A

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

was added in 1535. In addition to its other roles, the belfry also served as a jail; some of its chambers housed prisoners until 1827. The building underwent a major restoration in the mid-19th century. Another renovation campaign began in 1992, and lasted roughly a decade.

References

* Mireille Dujacquier and Alain Mauchard (2002). ''Le plus ancien beffroi de Belgique''. Tournai, Belgium: L'asbl Tourisme et Culture.

External links

*
The Belfry, symbol of communal freedoms
- from the City of Tournai *

{{Authority control Bell towers in Belgium Carillons Towers completed in the 13th century World Heritage Sites in Belgium Wallonia's Major Heritage Buildings and structures in Hainaut (province) Protected heritage sites in Hainaut (province) Tourist attractions in Hainaut (province) Tournai

History

See also

References

External links