Tournai Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral in Tournai
UNESCO world heritage
	The Romanesque - apse-shaped rounded - transept of the cathedral
National territory:	Belgium
Type:	Culture
Criteria :	(ii) (iv)
Surface:	0.4963 ha
Buffer zone:	20.2219 ha
Reference No .:	1009
UNESCO region :	Europe and North America
	History of enrollment
Enrollment:	2000 (session 24)

The west facade

The Notre-Dame de Tournai (German Our Lady to Tournai) is the Virgin Mary consecrated cathedral in the Belgian city of Tournai and the seat of the diocese of the same name . It is a masterpiece of the Scheldt Gothic and is one of the most beautiful cultural and historical monuments in Western Europe.

General

Distinctive characteristics of the building are the extraordinarily large Romanesque nave , transepts in a rounded apse shape with the over-built five towers (a central crossing tower and four corner towers as bell towers ) and to contrasting, in early Gothic style built choir . The overall impression gives the cathedral the charming and interesting sight. It was in 2000, UNESCO - World Heritage declared.

history

The Romanesque nave

The construction of the church began in 1110 after a fire in the middle of the 9th century destroyed the episcopate ensemble that had previously stood at this point . In the period up to 1191, the central nave , side aisles, five towers and the choir were built as impressive masterpieces of Romanesque architecture . The central nave was originally flat, the ridge vault was added later. The Romanesque choir, however, was demolished again in the 13th century because Bishop Gautier de Marvis (1219–1252) planned the complete Gothic construction of the cathedral. Work on the demolished choir began in 1242 and was completed in 1255. The plans for a completely new building were then abandoned and by 1325 only two side chapels in the Gothic style were built. The rood screen is a work of the Renaissance by the Flemish sculptor and architect Cornelis Floris II.

The Gothic choir

Structural data

Tower height: 83 m
Height of the central nave: 26 m
Length of the central nave: 48 m
Width of the central nave: 20 m
Height of the choir: 58 m
Width of the chos: 36 m
Height of the transept: 48 m
Length of the transept: 66.5 m
Width of the transept: 14 m
Length of the entire church: 134 m

gallery

Historic interior view towards the altar
Reconstruction with the original Romanesque choir (front) and the non-built towers in the west facade (back)
Layout
Rosette in the west facade from the inside, organ in front of it

Art theft

In an armed attack on the cathedral on February 19, 2008 a total of 13 art objects were stolen. There are eight chalices, two bishop's rings and three crosses. One of these crosses contains an alleged splinter from the cross of Jesus as a relic , comes from Byzantium and has been in the cathedral since 1205. Because of its popularity, the cross is not for sale. The total value of the loot is estimated at 40 million euros.