Belfries
Belfries are medieval bell-towers. They are mostly found in town centers, and connected to the local town hall or church. At their time, the Belfries represented the growing importance of cities instead of the feudal system in the Middle Ages.
The oldest belfries date from the 13th century. After several fires, stone began to be used as building material instead of wood. Mainly square, robust towers were built in this period.
Later, from the 14th to the 17th century when most of the still remaining belfries were built, the towers lose their defensive character. They become narrower, and the styles are influenced by baroque.
In 2005, this site was extended to include belfries in France.
Visit Jan 2001, Apr 2005, May 2006
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Of the numerous belfries in Belgium, I first visited the one in Lier. Lier is a picturesque small town near Antwerp. It also has an old Beguinage, part of another worldheritage. The tower in Lier distinguishes itself because of the 4 little towers. It's situated at a typical Flemish square, where a market for pigeon enthousiasts was going on when I was there.
The belfry in Leuven, another nice Flemish town, I visited four years later. It's part of St. Peter's church. This tower has a quite unusual shape because it was left unfinished.
My first French belfry I saw in Amiens. I had expected Amiens to be a lot more like those Belgian towns, but there isn't much left of its medieval history besides the city's two highlights: the Cathedral and this belfry.
Reviews
John Booth (New Zealand):
Visiting the belfries of northern France and Belgium involves travelling to many little-known towns that are well off the tourist trail. So on my visit to the region I covered some of the 56 included in the WHS, and found them to be all different - no two alike. It was quickly apparent that much of what I saw were copies, that the originals had been destroyed in WW1, WW11 or both:
Amiens - a short squat tower close to the cathedral (also a WHS)
Calais - a tall red brick tower attached to the town hall
Boulogne - square and grey, and now a war memorial
Hesdin - appears to poke out of the town hall roof, the lower part can be seen inside the tourist office
Rue - large squat tower
Abbeville - tall square tower
Loos - a tall red brick tower with corbels and turrets
Lille - very tall, slim red brick tower
Bethune - decrepit and grimy
Comines - red brick with onion dome roof
Gravellines - tall yellow brick tower
Dunkirk (St Eloi) - a tall square tower
Dunkirk (town hall) - red brick tower attached to the town hall
Bergues - tall yellow brick tower with onion dome roof
Bailleul - tall yellow brick tower with lantern roof
Armentiers - tall red brick tower with spire, attached to the town hall
Cambrai - tall grey stone, originally a church tower
Douai - grey stone tower attached to the town hall, with a brilliant 62 bell carillion
Arras - a yellow brick monument attached to the town hall
Tournai - elegant white stone tower
Roeslare - tall square tower attached to the town hall
Oudenaarde - a tall ornate tower, an integral part of the town hall
Kortrijk - a short red brick tower with turrets
Menen - octagonal red brick tower
Ypres - large and squat with turrets, attached to the cloth hall (near the Menen Gate, a huge WW1 memorial)
Mons - tall grey stone tower with onion dome roof
Charleroi - a tall slender tower
Gembloux - a brick tower with onion dome roof
Namur - a squat, circular tower
Binche - a tall brick tower with a tiered roof, attached to the town hall
Ghent - a stone tower with spire
Eeklo - a slender red brick tower overshadwed by a somber church tower nearby
Veurne - wedding cake style, overshadowed by a huge church behind
Dixmude - tall towerr attached to the town hall
Tielt - a cute brick tower with a lantern roof
Dendermonde - tall white brick tower attached to the town hall
Aalst - white brick tower with corbels and decorative panels
Bruges - a square and circular wedding cake tower of white stone
Tongeren - a large square tower attached to a church
Tienen - square tower attached to St Gemanicus' church
Mechlen - multi facetted tower of St Rombould's cathedral
Antwerp - tall spire attached to the OLV cathedral
Antwerp - squat tower attached to the town hall
Herentals - a slim circular brick tower on a triangular gable
Lier - a white tower with steeple, attached to the town hall. |
| Date posted: May 2010 |
Klaus Freisinger (Austria):
Formerly known as the Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia and now called the Belfries of Belgium and France after 23 (!) such buildings in the north of France were added to the 33 (!) already on the List from Belgium, these make an easy site to visit, since you can go to almost any town in Belgium or northern France and see a belfry there that´s probably on the List. Generally speaking, a belfry is a symbol of a city´s freedom from some outside overlord (as opposed to a castle - symbol of the feudal lords - and a belltower - symbol of the church) and later came to signify a city´s wealth and prosperity. I´m pretty sure I´ve seen several belfries on the List, but that was before their WH status was announced, so I can only speak for the one in Amiens in northern France, which is a nice building, but not particularly noteworthy in my opinion. It´s only open about one weekend a month or so, so you can only see it from the outside. Amiens is a nice enough place, but don´t go there just for the belfry. |
| Date posted: August 2006 |
Marcel (Germany):
I visited the town of Brugge in summer 2004 as I had to take a train from there back home so that I could subscribe for university just in time. I've been on vacation in northern France, directly behind the Belgian boarder and so used around six hours to visit this town. The Belfry of Brugge is really beautiful and it definately dominates the market square. I sat in a café at the market and had a lovely view to this amazing building which is really worth a visit. |
| Date posted: July 2005 |
William Sambrook (England):
The beautiful belfry in Mons (Hainaut) is the only Baroque one in Belgium and symbolic of the city. It is located in the highest part of the town, built as the name Mons suggests, on a hill. The youth hostel is right next door. Mons is in the industrial Borinage region of Southwest Belgium and often overlooked in favour of the showcase cities of Flanders. There are, however more world heritage sites or parts of world heritage sites in Hainaut province (4) than in any other in Belgium. |
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Ian Cade (England):
 I have now seen many of the Belfries inscribed, 15 I think. Perhaps the most impressive is the Belfry of Onze Lieve Vrowkathedraal in Antwerpen (pictured) which contains four major paintings by Rubens and is well worth a visit, it shares a square with the Stadhuis which is also inscribed. In the rest of Flanders, the one in Mechelen is massive, the one in Brugge seems to be too big for the area it inhabits, Gent has a very interesting one with statues of the former guards on it, and the one in Leuven is odd as it was never completed but is set in a fantastic city with much a more impressive neighbour in the shape of the Stadhuis. I also visited the Cloth-hall in Ypres when I was on a school trip to WWI battle sites, and surprisingly I remember it but not too much of the detail.
In Wallonia the most impressive Belfry was the one at Tournai which is right next to the Cathedral, it has some excellent multi-lingual exhibits inside that explain the role of the Belfries very well, I also managed to catch a look at the one in Mons on the way to the Flint mines at Spiennes.
Of the new ones added in France I have seen many from differing modes of transport and the one that sticks in my head is the one in Lille as it was big enough to make an impression from the Eurostar train. I did manage to stop and get a good look at the one in Calais lit up at night, which was surprisingly nice, as the city, to be polite, is not surprisingly nice!
It is defiantly enjoyable to visit these cities and there is normally much more to see than just the Belfries. In this corner of Western Europe you also have some of its best food and in Belgium especially its best beers to make the experience all the more enjoyable. |
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