BELFRIES OF BELGIUM AND FRANCE

An unequalled ensemble of fifty-six 'Belfries of Belgium and France' is designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Site, in recognition of an architectural manifestation of emerging civic independence in historic Flanders and neighbouring regions from feudal and religious influences, leading to a degree of local democracy of great significance in the history of humankind.
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 Picardie ''régions'' in the northern tip of France were appended to the renamed list. A notable omission is the Brussels City Hall belfry, as it was already part of the Grand Place World Heritage Site.
Besides civic belfries, or buildings such as city halls that rather obviously may have rendered a similar service, the list includes religious buildings that also had served as watchtower or alarm bell tower: the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, the St. Rumbolds Tower in Mechelen, and the St. Leonard's Church in Zoutleeuw - all three in Flanders, Belgium. Few of the towers are freestanding.

Contents

Belgium

Flanders

Wallonia

Hainaut

France

Nord-Pas de Calais

Picardy

See also

External links

Footnotes

Belgium

ID numbers correspond to the order in the complete list ID 943/943bis from UNESCO, see External links

Flanders

Antwerp

ID 943-002	Antwerp	Cathedral of Our Lady
ID 943-003	Antwerp	City Hall [1]
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 [2]
ID 943-015	Mechelen	Old Cloth Hall with Belfry, oldest part of the present-day City Hall [3]

West Flanders

ID 943-004	Bruges	Belfry known as ''Halletoren'' (Tower of the Halls) and [Market] Halls
ID 943-006	Diksmuide	City Hall and Belfry
ID 943-011	Kortrijk	Belfry known as ''Halletoren'' (Tower of the Hall) [4]
ID 943-014	Lo-Reninge (Lo)	Former City Hall with Belfry, at present a hotel
ID 943-017	Menen	City Hall and adjacent Belfry
ID 943-018	Nieuwpoort	Grain Hall known as ''Stadshalle'' (City's [Market] Hall), with Belfry
ID 943-020	Roeselare	City Hall, City's Market Hall, and Belfry
ID 943-022	Tielt	Belfry known as ''Hallentoren'' (Tower of the Halls), Cloth Hall and Aldermen's Chamber [5]
ID 943-025	Veurne	''Landhuis'' ("country-house", former seat of the Viscounty of Veurne-Ambacht) and Belfry [6]
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'' [7]
ID 943-019	Oudenaarde	City Hall with Belfry

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

Namur

ID 943-056	Gembloux	Belfry
ID 943-030	Namur	Belfry

France

Nord-Pas de Calais

Nord

ID 943-033	Armentières	Belfry of the City Hall
ID 943-034	Bailleul	Belfry of the City Hall
ID 943-035	Bergues	Belfry
ID 943-036	Cambrai	Belfry of the St. Martin's Church
ID 943-037	Comines	Belfry of the City Hall
ID 943-038	Douai	Belfry of the City Hall
ID 943-040	Dunkirk	Belfry of the City HallUNESCO states: ID 943-040 ''Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville'', ID 943-039 ''Beffroi de l'église Saint-Eloi'' – further reading from other source: Monuments in Dunkirk
ID 943-039	Dunkirk	Belfry of the St. Eligius Church.
ID 943-041	Gravelines	Belfry
ID 943-042	Lille	Belfry of the City Hall
ID 943-043	Loos	Belfry of the City Hall

Pas-de-Calais

ID 943-044	Aire-sur-la-Lys	Belfry of the City Hall
ID 943-045	Arras	Belfry of the City Hall
ID 943-046	Béthune	Belfry
ID 943-047	Boulogne-sur-Mer	Belfry of the City Hall
ID 943-048	Calais	Belfry of the City Hall
ID 943-049	Hesdin	Belfry of the City Hall

Picardy

Somme

ID 943-050	Abbeville	Belfry
ID 943-051	Amiens	Belfry
ID 943-052	Doullens	Belfry of the former Municipal Hall, at present the tourist information center
ID 943-053	Lucheux	Belfry on the remaining City Gate
ID 943-054	Rue	Belfry
ID 943-055	Saint-Riquier	Belfry

See also

★ List of World Heritage Sites in Europe

External links

★ 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

★ The French belfries on the UNESCO list ID 943bis with 'photographs' and descriptions; and a general article

★ The French belfries on the UNESCO list ID 943bis with thumbnails, 'photographs' and descriptions

Footnotes

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. The belfry is known as ''Halletoren'', because of an adjacent Cloth Hall that no longer exists; the tower is now free-standing.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.

Aalst

Belfry overlooking the old town and hanging gardens of 'Thuin'