Belfries of Belgium and France
The Belfries of Belgium and France are a group of 56 historical buildings designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Site, in recognition of an architectural manifestation of emerging civic independence from feudal and religious influences in historic Flanders and neighboring regions of the Duchy of Burgundy.
UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
---|---|
Belfry locations | |
Location | Belgium; north of France |
Includes | 56 belfries |
Criteria | Cultural: (ii), (iv) |
Reference | 943 |
Inscription | 1999 (23rd session) |
Extensions | 2005 |
UNESCO inscribed 32 towers onto its list of Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia in 1999. In 2005, the belfry of Gembloux in the Walloon Region of Belgium and 23 belfries from the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy regions in the northern tip of France were appended to the renamed list. One notable omission is the Brussels Town Hall belfry, as it is already part of the Grand Place World Heritage Site.
However, despite this list being concerned with civic tower structures, additional six church towers were also made part of it under the pretext that they had served as watchtowers or alarm bell towers. These are the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, St. Rumbolds Cathedral in Mechelen, St. Peter's Church, Leuven, St. Germanus Church in Tienen, the Basilica of Our Lady in Tongeren and St. Leonard's Church in Zoutleeuw.
Most of the structures in this list are towers projecting from larger buildings. However, a few are notably standalone, of which, a handful are rebuilt towers formerly connected to adjacent buildings.
Belgium
ID numbers correspond to the order in the complete list ID 943/943bis from UNESCO, see External links.
Flanders
West Flanders
ID 943-004 | Bruges | Hallentoren belfry and halls |
ID 943-006 | Diksmuide | City Hall and Belfry |
ID 943-011 | Kortrijk | Hallentoren Belfry[1] |
ID 943-014 | Lo-Reninge (Lo) | Town Hall with Belfry (at present a hotel) |
ID 943-017 | Menen | City Hall and adjacent Belfry |
ID 943-018 | Nieuwpoort | Stadshalle grain hall (market hall) with Belfry |
ID 943-020 | Roeselare | City Hall, Stadshalle (market hall) and Belfry |
ID 943-022 | Tielt | Hallentoren belfry, Cloth Hall and Aldermen's Chamber [2] |
ID 943-025 | Veurne | Landhuis ("country-house", former seat of the Viscounty of Veurne-Ambacht) and Belfry [3] |
ID 943-010 | Ypres | Cloth Hall with Belfry |
East Flanders
ID 943-001 | Aalst | Aldermen's House with Belfry |
ID 943-005 | Dendermonde | City Hall with Belfry |
ID 943-007 | Eeklo | City Hall with Belfry |
ID 943-008 | Ghent | Belfry, Cloth Hall and Mammelokker [4] |
ID 943-019 | Oudenaarde | City Hall with Belfry |
Antwerp
ID 943-002 | Antwerp | Cathedral of Our Lady |
ID 943-003 | Antwerp | City Hall [5] |
ID 943-009 | Herentals | Former City & 'Laken'(Cloth) Hall |
ID 943-013 | Lier | City Hall and Belfry tower |
ID 943-016 | Mechelen | St. Rumbolds Tower of the cathedral [6] |
ID 943-015 | Mechelen | Old Cloth Hall with Belfry (now part of the City Hall complex)[7] |
Flemish Brabant
ID 943-012 | Leuven | St. Peter's Church and tower |
ID 943-023 | Tienen | St. Germanus Church with Stadstoren (City Tower) |
ID 943-026 | Zoutleeuw | St. Leonard's Church |
Limburg
ID 943-021 | Sint-Truiden | City Hall with Tower |
ID 943-024 | Tongeren | Basilica of Our Lady with Stadstoren (City Tower) |
Wallonia
Hainaut
ID 943-027 | Binche | Belfry of the City Hall |
ID 943-028 | Charleroi | Belfry of the City Hall |
ID 943-029 | Mons | Belfry |
ID 943-031 | Thuin | Belfry |
ID 943-032 | Tournai | Belfry |
France
Nord-Pas de Calais
Nord
ID 943-033 | Armentières | Belfry of the City Hall | 50°41′11″N 2°52′57″E | |
ID 943-034 | Bailleul | Belfry of the City Hall | 50°44′23″N 2°44′04″E | |
ID 943-035 | Bergues | Belfry | 50°58′05″N 2°25′58″E | |
ID 943-036 | Cambrai | Belfry of the St. Martin's Church | 50°10′27″N 3°13′56″E | |
ID 943-037 | Comines | Belfry of the City Hall | 50°45′55″N 3°00′26″E | |
ID 943-038 | Douai | Belfry of the City Hall | 50°22′04″N 3°04′50″E | |
ID 943-040 | Dunkirk | Belfry of the City Hall[8] | 51°02′15″N 2°22′36″E | |
ID 943-039 | Dunkirk | Belfry of Dunkirk[8](former church tower attached to Saint Eligius, in the 1700s transformed into a standalone municipal belfry) | 51°02′08″N 2°22′35″E | |
ID 943-041 | Gravelines | Belfry | 50°59′12″N 2°07′34″E | |
ID 943-042 | Lille | Belfry of the City Hall | 50°37′50″N 3°04′11″E | |
ID 943-043 | Loos | Belfry of the City Hall | 50°36′54″N 3°00′53″E |
Pas-de-Calais
ID 943-044 | Aire-sur-la-Lys | Belfry of the City Hall | 50°38′19″N 2°23′47″E | |
ID 943-045 | Arras | Belfry of the City Hall | 50°17′28″N 2°46′37″E | |
ID 943-046 | Béthune | Belfry | 50°31′52″N 2°38′21″E | |
ID 943-047 | Boulogne-sur-Mer | Belfry of the City Hall | 50°43′30″N 1°36′48″E | |
ID 943-048 | Calais | Belfry of the City Hall | 50°57′10″N 1°51′15″E | |
ID 943-049 | Hesdin | Belfry of the City Hall | 50°22′23″N 2°02′11″E |
Picardy
Somme
ID 943-050 | Abbeville | Belfry | 50°06′26″N 1°49′58″E | |
ID 943-051 | Amiens | Belfry | 49°53′44″N 2°17′46″E | |
ID 943-052 | Doullens | Belfry of the former Municipal Hall, at present the tourist information center | 50°09′19″N 2°20′28″E | |
ID 943-053 | Lucheux | Belfry on the remaining City Gate | 50°11′50″N 2°24′40″E | |
ID 943-054 | Rue | Belfry | 50°16′21″N 1°40′07″E | |
ID 943-055 | Saint-Riquier | Belfry | 50°08′03″N 1°56′47″E |
Gallery
- Belfry of Armentières
- Belfry of Bergues
- Town hall and belfry of Calais
- Belfry of Charleroi
- Belfry of Douai
- Belfry of Ghent
- Belfry of the old town hall of Herentals
- Belfry of Nieuwpoort
- Belfry of Tielt
See also
- List of World Heritage Sites in Europe
Footnotes
- The belfry is known as Halletoren, because of an adjacent Cloth Hall that no longer exists; the tower is now free-standing.
- The belfry is known as Hallentoren or Tower of the Halls, plural: of the two adjacent wings or halls, only one remains, hence Cloth Hall, singular.
- The city centre's Landhuis (literally: 'country-house') was once the seat of the kasselrij or burggraafschap (viscounty) Veurne-Ambacht, serving the countryside; here as opposed to the adjacent Stadhuis (literally: 'city-house' though always meaning the City Hall) serving the city. The Landhuis later became the Court of Justice and recently a place for cultural purposes, e.g. exhibitions, dance acts, concerts, etc.
- The name Mammelokker (assumedly: 'Allurer of breasts') for the guard house at the part of the Cloth Hall that once served as a prison, refers to the story of a prisoner.
- Quote from external link Detailed argumentation for list ID 943/943bis, UNESCO Website: "The Hôtel de Ville in Antwerpen (1564) is an excellent example of the transposition of Renaissance principles in the central risalith with superposed diminishing registers flanked by obelisks and scrollwork and finished with a pediment, reiterating the theme of the central belfry." – Hôtel de Ville is French for 'City Hall', Antwerpen is the native name of 'Antwerp' in Dutch.
- UNESCO states, inappropriately in French: ID 943-016 Tour de Saint-Rombaut ; in native Dutch language this is Sint-Romboutstoren which is the main tower of the cathedral, once also used as a watchtower against fires.
- UNESCO states, inappropriately in French: ID 943-015 Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi ; in native Dutch language this is Oude [or: Voormalige] Halle met Belfort. This 14th-century Cloth Hall with never to its designed height built Belfry – both hardly ever used for the intended purposes – with more recent adjacent buildings, constitute the present-day City Hall.
- UNESCO states: ID 943-040 Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville, ID 943-039 Beffroi de l'église Saint-Eloi – further reading from other source: (in French) Monuments in Dunkirk
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belfries of Belgium and France. |
- Brief description of the ensemble ID 943/943bis, UNESCO Website
- Detailed argumentation for list ID 943/943bis, UNESCO Website
- The complete list ID 943/943bis, UNESCO Website (monuments ordered by UNESCO ID, which precedes the corresponding monument in this Wikipedia article's main list)
- Articles on the phenomenon of the belfries from the Flemish Department of Monuments and Landscapes
- The Belgian belfries on the UNESCO list ID 943 (without Gembloux) with photographs and slideshows – from the Flemish Department of Monuments and Landscapes
- (in French) The French belfries on the UNESCO list ID 943bis with photographs and descriptions; and a general article
- (in French) The French belfries on the UNESCO list ID 943bis with thumbnails, photographs and descriptions