| Full text |
86 Route 8. TOURNAI,
B, 3, 4). In the adjoining buildings is a Natural History Museum
(Pl. 17). — The garden is embellished with a statue of Louis Gallait
(p. Isxiii), a native of Tournai, and a bust of Ad. Delmée, the song-
writer. A little to the S.E. is the Court House (Pl. ©, 4).
The Monwment Francais (Pl. 14, A, 3; 1897), in the Place de
Lille, commemorates the French soldiers who fell before Antwerp
in 1832. — The church of St. Jacques (Pl. A, B, 2) is a picturesque
specimen of the Transition style, recently restored. The interior
contains some interesting tombs, among them that of Nic. d’A vesnes,
in the Gothic style, with old painting (Chapel of the Sacrament, to
the right of the choir). — The early-Gothic church of Sainte Marie
Madeleine (P1. A, 1, 2) contains a group of the Annunciation in the
style of Roger van der Weyden (in the transept) and other note-
worthy sculptures.
The (inaccessible) old bridge called Pont des Trous (Pl. A, 1),
which crosses the Scheldt at the lower end of the town in three
pointed arches, was built about 1290. Both ends are defended by
strong towers. — Above the bridge is the Square du Mortier (Pl.
B, 2), which is embellished with a marble statue of B. du Mortier
(b. at Tournai in4797; d. 1878), the naturalist and Belgian states-
man, by Fraikin, erected in 1883.
On the way back to the station we may yisit the 42th cent.
church of St. Nicholas (Pl. B, 4), an attractive edifice in the Tran-
sition style, and the Tour de Henri VIII (Pl. 22; C, 1), a castle
of 1513, with two vaulted apartments, one above the other.
To the S.B. of the Rue Royale (p. 83) rises the church of St.
Brice (Pl. C, 2), dating from the 12th cent. but frequently altered.
The tower affords a good view of the cathedral. The treasury con-
tains many objects of interest.
The Tomb of Childeric (a. 481; father of Clovis), King of the Franks,
was discovered in 1653 on the destruction of a house adjoining the church
on the N. side. Childeric’s sword and most of the other curiosities found
in the tomb were carried off to Paris in 1664, but many of them were
stolen from the National Library in 1831. Among them were upwards of
300 small figures in gold, resembling bees, with which the royal robes
are said to have been decorated. Napoleon, on the occasion of hi
ation, preferred them to the Jleurs-de-lys as insignia of the imperial
On the W. side of the church of St. Brice are two medizval
houses (12th cent.), known as the Maisons Romaines (Ble C2:
Rue de la Barre-St-Brice 8 & 10). — The chapel (ca. 1600) of the
former Jesuit College, adjoining the Athénée Royal (Pl. 5; O, 2), in
the Rue Duquesnoy, has a fine Renaissance portal.
At the S.E. end of the quarter on the right bank of the Scheldt
are some picturesque fragments of the City Wall of the 13th Century
(BI 18; D4).
Mont St. Aubert, sometimes called Ste. Trinité from the smal] church
of that name on the top, commands a very extensive panorama, although
but 485 ft. in height, being the only eminence in the district, and is
well worthy of a visit. It rises at Obigies (p. 7), 3M. to the N. of Tournai.
Carriage in 3/, hr. (3-4 fr.). |
