Tournai lies on the site of the Roman Turnacum and is, after Tongeren, the oldest city in Belgium. This was the site of a ford on the Scheldt River, where the connection between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Cologne, which had been expanded into a fortified Roman road, crossed the Scheldt. The Roman camp was plundered by the Franks and Chauci, but survived until 406, when the Vandals attacked and destroyed it.

The city became a Merovingian seat of power in the mid-5th century, from which King Childeric I also operated. In 486, Clovis moved the center of power to Paris. In 862, Charles the Bald, first king of Western Francia and still to become Holy Roman Emperor, would make Tournai the seat of the County of Flanders.

The city participated in 11th-century rise of towns in the Low Countries, with a woollen cloth industry, which made it attractive to merchants. The commune's drive for independence from the local counts succeeded in 1187, and the city was henceforth directly subordinated to the French Crown. During the 15th century, the city became an important supplier of tapestry. It was captured in 1513 by Henry VIII of England and was handed back to French rule in 1519.


Tournai Cathedral of Notre Dame is the seat of the Diocese of Tournai. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.

In 1146, by order of Pope Eugene III, the Diocese of Tournai was established by splitting off from the Diocese of Noyon. The present cathedral was already under construction at that time. The transept was not vaulted until the beginning of the 13th century, followed by the construction of the crossing tower and the four flanking towers. The crossing has a Romanesque triforium above the transepts, but is already covered with a Gothic ribbed vault.

Seen to the right is the belfry, erected in 1188, it is 72m high.