Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

TOURNAI 183

High Altar

With the structural

weight on external

buttresses, the walls of

the chancel could be

filled with glass, flooding

the altar with light. The

Gothic pillars and

arches are made of the

city’s famous blue stone.

. Rood Screen
The line between the
nave and the choir is
marked by an elegant
rood screen in poly-
chrome marble. It was
designed in Italian-
Renaissance style and
completed in 1572.
. Treasury
Rooms in the cathedral contain a
wealth of church treasure. Most pre-
cious are the large reliquary chests
gilded and encrusted with gems. There
is also a long tapestry from 1402
depicting St Eleutherius and St Piat,
who brought Christianity to Tournai.

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

Place de l’Evêché 1, Tournai. @

# Apr–Oct: 9:15am–noon and

2–6pm daily; Nov–Mar: 9:15am–

noon and 2–5pm daily. 7

Treasury # Apr–Oct: 9:30am–

noon and 2–6pm Sun–Fri; Nov–

Mar: 9:30am–noon and 2–5pm

Mon–Fri, 2–5pm Sat, Sun and

public holidays. & http://www.

cathedraledetournai.be

The transept separates the

Romanesque nave from

the Gothic choir, both of

which, unusually, are

almost of equal length.

The chancel, built

between 1243 and

1255, was the first

example of the

new French Gothic

style in Belgium.