Belgium's oldest city — a cathedral with five towers and the birthplace of French painting
Tournai (Flemish: Doornik) claims to be the oldest city in Belgium, tracing its history to a Roman river-crossing on the Scheldt. Its Cathedral of Our Lady, with five Romanesque towers and a Gothic nave, is the most important medieval religious building in Belgium and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tournai is also the birthplace of Rogier van der Weyden (1399), one of the founding figures of Flemish-Dutch painting, and the belfry (UNESCO) is the oldest in Belgium. The city remained French until 1814 and has a distinctly French character.
Tournai was the first capital of the Merovingian Frankish kingdom — Clovis I, who converted to Christianity and united the Franks, was born here around 466 CE. The city's wealth came from cloth production and its position on the Scheldt trade route. The cathedral, begun in the 12th century, combines Romanesque and Gothic elements in a unique ensemble. Tournai changed hands repeatedly between France, Burgundy, England (briefly under Henry VIII, 1513–1519), and the Habsburgs before finally becoming Belgian in 1830. The city was heavily bombed in WWII (1940) and many medieval structures were los…