Grand-Place
Take advantage of a terrace to admire the harmony of the heart of Tournai and dive into its two-thousand-year-old history. The Civitas Tornacensis forum also accommodates a huge Merovingian cemetery. Its cobblestones are reminiscent of the primitive St. Quentin’s Church. It provides views of three prestigious buildings: the Cathedral and the Belfry, both classified as UNESCO world heritage, and the Halle aux Draps, whose name evokes the city’s “drapery” past. In the centre, Christine de Lalaing, heart of the resistance during the siege of 1581 by the troops of Alexandre Farnèse, tell us of the presence of the Reformation in the 16th century. All around, the houses, rebuilt after the devastations of the second war, alternate the architectural “Louis XIV” and “Flemish Renaissance” styles, while several frontages sport the banners of the guilds, testaments of economic life in the Middle Ages. Linger a little, while savouring a regional speciality, on our square where the Tournaisian heart still beats at the time of the great events that punctuate the life of the city of Childeric and Clovis.
 
Tournai Guides Association - Claude Bonnet