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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.
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Belgium
ID numbers correspond to the order in the complete list ID 943/943bis from UNESCO, see External links
[edit] Flanders
| ID 943-021 |
Sint-Truiden |
City Hall with Tower |
| ID 943-024 |
Tongeren |
Basilica of Our Lady with Stadstoren (City Tower) |
[edit] Wallonia
[edit] Hainaut
[edit] Nord-Pas de Calais
| 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 Hall[8] |
| ID 943-039 |
Dunkirk |
Belfry of the St. Eligius Church[8] |
| ID 943-041 |
Gravelines |
Belfry |
| ID 943-042 |
Lille |
Belfry of the City Hall |
| ID 943-043 |
Loos |
Belfry of the City Hall |
| 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 |
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[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b 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: (French) Monuments in Dunkirk
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Belfry overlooking the old town and hanging gardens of Thuin
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Belgium and 
France
