The Cathedral of Tournai (my city) Belgium (UNESCO World Heritage)
**The Notre-Dame Cathedral is a jewel of medieval architecture inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000. Its impressive dimensions (134 m long and 66 m wide), its harmonious combination of Romanesque and Gothic styles and its architectural audacity make it a reference among the religious monuments of the West.
This huge gray ship that dominates the city of its five bell towers unfortunately undergoes the ravages of time. Since 2006, a vast restoration project is at work: stabilization of the Gothic choir, replacement of roofs, cleaning of stone walls, restoration of stained glass windows ... The construction site limits greatly visibility and access to the building: the transept and the Gothic choir are inaccessible, and outside, scaffolding masks the towers of the building.
The exhibition "Visible, invisible, the illustrated cathedral 100 meters of history (s)" to discover on The Palisade all around the building reveals what is hidden thanks to exceptional images. It presents Notre-Dame Cathedral, its history, its role in the city, its architecture, its treasures, and the restoration site.
Opening times and access fees to the Cathedral
From November 1st to March 31st: Monday to Sunday from 9h to 12h and from 14h to 17h.
From April 1st to October 31st: Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 9h to 12h and from 13h to 18h.
Access fee: free.
Times and rates of access to the Treasure of the Cathedral
From November 1st to March 31st: Monday to Friday from 9am to 12pm and from 2pm to 5pm. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 14h to 17h.
From April 1st to October 31st: Monday from 1pm to 6pm. From Tuesday to Friday from 10h to 18h. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 13h to 18h. Closing of the ticket office at 17:30.
Rates: € 2.50 per person, € 2 per person in a group (minimum 20 people), € 3 per family / school class.
Site of the Cathedral of Tournai:
726/5000
World Heritage by UNESCO, the cathedral of Tournai, with its five spiers, its nave and its transept novels and its Gothic choir, is a jewel of medieval architecture.
Its very wide nave consists of 4 horizontal floors on 9 bays whose columns surmounted by capitals with often vegetable decoration, and all different, form a set of several hundred pieces unique in Belgium. Renaissance masterpiece due to Corneille de Vriendt, the rood screen occupies the center of the transept. The southern part of the transept retains a series of exceptional stained glass windows ("stained glass of privileges"). In the center of the Gothic choir (58 m long and 36 m high) dominates the marble altar from the Abbey St-Martin de Tournai.