The best running trails around Tournai

Cathedral on the market square Tournai

A nice climb nearby and with breathtaking views.

The Town Hall and its medieval cellar The elegant town hall of Tournai stands in the middle of a pleasant park and partly on the site of the former Benedictine abbey of Saint-Martin, a local monastery from the 11th century. Even though most of the former abbey buildings have disappeared, a remarkable remnant can still be seen under the town hall: the impressive medieval cellar! A large part of the collection of the most beautiful Tournai porcelain is visible here. The medieval cellar of the town hall has been beautifully restored and is part of an extensive underground heritage, hidden under the private houses and public buildings of Tournai. In collaboration with the associations ASBL Pasquier Grenier and Les amis de la Citadelle, the municipality of Tournai has launched a collaborative program to inventory the medieval cellars of the “Cité des 5 Clochers”. Like the medieval cellar located under the Tourist Office, these old stone structures and pillars date back to the 12th century, and there are ultimately many more than expected! A very mysterious heritage that reveals itself step by step, right in the middle of the city…

The original 13th-century wooden cloth hall was destroyed in a storm in 1606. Between 1610 and 1611, the building was rebuilt in various architectural styles: Gothic pointed arches on the ground floor, a Renaissance first floor, and Baroque gables. The courtyard with galleries from 1616 is Italianate. In 1881, the cloth merchants' building collapsed. It was rebuilt and became a city museum. After the fire bombs in 1940, the building had to be repaired. The facade was renewed during city restoration works in 1998. The building is a meeting centre and event hall.

Currently, there are works in the vicinity of the town hall. The "Cour d' Honneur de l'Hotel de Ville" is a construction site and therefore only partially accessible. Several buildings on the town hall premises are being tackled, especially with a view to energy efficiency, adaptations to recent regulations and public friendliness, always with respect for heritage. This concerns the building in the Cour d'Honneur, which until recently was used by the Territorial Management department (urban planning, housing, environment, use of public space, etc.). source: tournai.be

During a trip through Morocco, Guillaume Charlier (1854-1925) witnessed a moving scene in Tangier. Among groups of beggars, he saw four blind Arabs who, leaning on each other, obediently followed a young boy in rags. The sculptor quickly made sketches of this poignant spectacle, which he could later use as a source of inspiration. The result from 1908 stands here, in front of the former post office, on Rue des Chapeliers. Source: be.monumen.be

After the boutique "Le Loft" closed its doors in 2017, the former post office building stood empty for a while, until a restaurant based on a street food concept moved in in 2022... but it only lasted a few months. In May 2024, "Happy Days", a venue for birthday parties for children and young people, opened here. At the end of 2023, the City of Tournai had announced plans to temporarily house the Archaeological Museum (which had to be closed for safety reasons) here, pending the establishment of a specific 'History and Remembrance Centre'," (as can be read on notele.be), but it seems those plans did not go ahead (yet). Source: tournai.be, lavenir.be, dhnet.be

The construction of the very first hall dates back to the 13th century. Built of wood, it was blown away by a storm. Four years later, it was rebuilt (1610-1611) in a mixture of styles: Renaissance on the 1st floor, Baroque gables, a frontispiece with Ionic columns,... The facade of this magnificent building was restored during the construction of the new Grand-Place, inaugurated in 1998. Mainly to be viewed from the outside. During certain events, the interior can be visited (e.g. Halle Gourmande, Christmas market,...). source: visitwallonia.be