Cathedrals of Belgium: I – Tournai

Belgium has magnificent Gothic architectures including houses, belfries, town halls and of course extraordinary cathedrals. There is a number of cathedrals, abbeys and collegiate churches whose common point is a permanent research for scooping out of stone, elevation, and exacerbated verticality along with a luxuriant décor.

In Tournai, a five-tower transept seems to compete in beauty with a vast illuminated Gothic choir. In Antwerpen, seven naves introduce a slender bell tower that elegantly rises at 123 m high. In Brussels, the harmonious cathedral, really is resplendent with her recent restoration.  In Liège, the sumptuous cathedral of Saint-Lambert, destroyed during the Revolution has been replaced by the former collegiate church of Saint-Paul. In Mechelen, the bell-tower of Saint-Rombaut, planned to reach 167 m finally reached 97 m. The Flesmish babelism even reached the Netherlands where the spire of Zierikzee on the Island of Schouwen-Duiveland was supposed to reach 206 m. This was brought back to 130 m though.

The Cathedral Notre-Dame de Tournai 

Very few cathedrals so vigorously juxtapose a Romanesque transept with 5 towers and a vast Gothic choir with 6 bays and a seven-sided apse with an horseshoe arched decagon. A certain prolixity however, can be observed when we compare these two masterpieces. Both arms present an ambulatory like the polygonal choir with rayonnant chapels. The arcades in the choir rest on fasciculated piles but the triforium partially is perforated. The clerestory presents two lancet windows (1243-1255).  The light and airy choir turned to be fragile and consolidation works were undertaken in the XIVth century: reinforcement of piles, installation of iron straightening bars and a second row of flying buttresses. The transept is 67 m long, that is half the East-West length of the edifice. It is emphasized by 4 angle towers with multiple storeys protecting the central tower. The tribunes surmounting the ambulatory are very characteristic.  The Romanesque nave of the first half of the XIIth century comprises 8 bays with side aisles. The elevation has 5 storeys which are clearly defined and is considered the first example of this type in Western countries. It looks more like a superimposition of arcades similar to Roman aqueducts rather than a succession of bays.

The façade was modified several times. The XIXth century rose window replaces a large Flamboyant window whilst the Gothic porch with its 9 fine Gothic bays obviously gives an Italian touch to the cathedral.  

From right to left: Gothic choir, transept and towers, and Romanesque nave of the Cathedral Notre Dame de Tournai.

Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont – Image source: http://s3.amazonaws.com/readers/2010/12/05/tournaijpg002_1.jpg

The West Porch at Notre-Dame de Tournai 

Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont – Image source: http://s3.amazonaws.com/readers/2010/12/05/tournaijpg000c_1.jpg

Transept of Tournai cathedral.

Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont – Image source: http://s3.amazonaws.com/readers/2010/12/05/tournaijpg000_2.jpg

 Belgium’s oldest belfry at Tournai XIIIth c. – The cathedral in the background.

Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont – Image source: http://s3.amazonaws.com/readers/2010/12/05/tournaijpg02a_1.jpg