Cathedral Notre-Dame de Tournai
Notre-Dame de Tournai is the Cathédrale diocese of Turned. It is the only religious building of Belgium which was built like cathedral. Chief of Flemish work of art, this monument is, by the harmonious alliance of the styles novel and Gothic and by his tailleTransept (66 meters) and masses it its five turns (most fact 83 meters in height) make some--> and its characteristic architecture, one of the most impressive witnesses of the art of occident. It belongs to the major Patrimoine of Wallonia.
At the 12th century, the development of the worship of Notre-Dame, the prosperity of the city, and can be the desire to hasten the separation of the Diocèse S of Tournai and Noyon, took along the construction of a third cathedral which was devoted on May 9th, 1171 and of which we preserved the greatest part: only the chorus was demolished at the 13th century to make place with the Gothic chorus current built in secondary Gothic style, directly inspired by those of Amiens and Soissons and of which the length is equivalent to that of the Nef and of the Romance Transept S réunis.
The Romance nave, with the starter of two turns in frontage, its Side S and its Platform S, is the oldest part of the building; one can date it from the first part of the 12th century; The church following the example of large Anglo-Normans, it is characterized by its flat Chevet and its four stages: ground floor, platforms, Triforium blind man, clear stage. Only the vaults of the sides are of time; those of the platforms date from the 17th century, that of the nave replaced a large flat ceiling at the 18th century. It is impossible not to be struck by the width of this part of the monument as by its harmonious proportions and its original ordinance; its carved decoration, one of richest of Belgium, holds also the attention of all the art lovers who admire the beauty of the doors “Mantile” and of the “Capitole” as well as the hundreds of different capitals which decorate the building.
The transept, without having the unit and the harmony of the nave, does not impress its proportions; it is long 66 meters, broad 14 meters and the Keystone of its Turn-lantern rises with 50 meters of the ground. Indeed this part of the cathedral, probably started at the same time as the nave, was altered in the second part of the 12th century: one wanted to build higher and one finished the arms of the transept by a circular Abside which attests the French influence. With him only, this transept is a church in the whole of the cathedral.
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