The Belfries of Belgium and France are a group of 56 historical buildings designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, in recognition of the civic (rather than church) belfries serving as an architectural manifestation of emerging civic independence from feudal and religious influences in the former County of Flanders (present-day French Flanders area of France and Flanders region of Belgium) and neighbouring areas which once were possessions of the House of Burgundy (in present-day Wallonia of Belgium).
Inscription The World Heritage Site was originally called the Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia, a 1999 UNESCO list of 32 towers in those two regions of Belgium. In 2005, the list was expanded and given its current name, recognizing the addition of 23 belfries from the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy regions in the north-eastern tip of France, plus the belfry of Gembloux in Wallonia.
Included structures Despite the list being concerned with civic tower structures, it includes six Belgian church towers (note the "cathedral"s, "church"es and "basilica" in the list below) under the pretext that they had served as watchtowers or alarm bell towers.
Most of the structures in this list are towers projecting from larger buildings. However, a few are notably standalone, of which, a handful are rebuilt towers formerly connected to adjacent buildings. One notable omission may seem the tower of Brussels' Town Hall, but this is not an actual belfry. The original Belfry of Brussels was located next to the Church of St. Nicholas, until its collapse in 1714. As a side note, Brussels' Town Hall is part of the Grand-Place World Heritage Site.
List of belfries Name and location Municipality Province (BE) /Department (FR) Region Country Year inscribed UNESCO ID Schepenhuis, Aalst – Belfry and (Former) City Hall Aalst East Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-001 Cathedral of Our Lady Antwerp Antwerp Flanders Belgium 1999 943-002 City Hall of Antwerp Antwerp Antwerp Flanders Belgium 1999 943-003 Hallentoren belfry and halls of Bruges Bruges West Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-004 Dendermonde East Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-005 Diksmuide West Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-006 City Hall with Belfry of Eeklo Eeklo East Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-007 Belfry, Cloth Hall and Mammelokker of Ghent Ghent East Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-008 Former City Hall & Lakenhal (cloth hall) of Herentals Herentals Antwerp Flanders Belgium 1999 943-009 Cloth Hall and Belfry of Ypres Ypres West Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-010 Belfry of Kortrijk Kortrijk West Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-011 Belfry of St. Peter's Church and Tower Leuven Flemish Brabant Flanders Belgium 1999 943-012 City Hall and Belfry Tower of Lier Lier Antwerp Flanders Belgium 1999 943-013 Town Hall with Belfry of Lo-Reninge Lo-Reninge West Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-014 Old Cloth Hall with Belfry (now part of the modern City Hall complex) Mechelen Antwerp Flanders Belgium 1999 943-015 St. Rumbolds Tower of the Cathedral Mechelen Antwerp Flanders Belgium 1999 943-016 Menen West Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-017 Stadshalle Grain Hall (Market Hall) with Belfry of Nieuwpoort Nieuwpoort West Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-018 Town Hall of with Belfry of Oudenaarde Oudenaarde East Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-019 City Hall, Stadshalle (market hall), and Belfry of Roeselare Roeselare West Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-020 Sint-Truiden Limburg Flanders Belgium 1999 943-021 Hallentoren belfry, Cloth Hall and Aldermen's Chamber Tielt West Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-022 with Stadstoren (City Tower) Tienen Flemish Brabant Flanders Belgium 1999 943-023 Belfry of the Basilica of Our Lady with Stadstoren (City Tower) Tongeren Limburg Flanders Belgium 1999 943-024 Landhuis ("country-house", former seat of the Viscounty of Veurne-Ambacht) and Belfry Veurne West Flanders Flanders Belgium 1999 943-025 St. Leonard's Church Zoutleeuw Flemish Brabant Flanders Belgium 1999 943-026 Belfry of the City Hall of Binche Binche Hainaut Wallonia Belgium 1999 943-027 Charleroi Hainaut Wallonia Belgium 1999 943-028 Belfry of Mons Mons Hainaut Wallonia Belgium 1999 943-029 Belfry of Namur Namur Namur Wallonia Belgium 1999 943-030 Belfry of Thuin Thuin Hainaut Wallonia Belgium 1999 943-031 Belfry of Tournai Tournai Hainaut Wallonia Belgium 1999 943-032 Belfry of the City Hall of Armentières Armentières Nord Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-033 Belfry of the City Hall of Bailleul Bailleul Nord Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-034 Belfry of Bergues Bergues Nord Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-035 Belfry of St. Martin's Church Cambrai Nord Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-036 Belfry of the City Hall of Comines Comines Nord Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-037 Belfry of the City Hall of Douai Douai Nord Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-038 Belfry of Dunkirk Dunkirk Nord Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-039 Belfry of the City Hall of Dunkirk Dunkirk Nord Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-040 Belfry of Gravelines Gravelines Nord Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-041 Belfry of the City Hall of Lille Lille Nord Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-042 Belfry of the City Hall of Loos Loos Nord Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-043 Belfry of the City Hall of Aire-sur-la-Lys Aire-sur-la-Lys Pas-de-Calais Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-044 Belfry of the City Hall of Arras Arras Pas-de-Calais Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-045 Belfry of Béthune Béthune Pas-de-Calais Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-046 Belfry of the City Hall of Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer Pas-de-Calais Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-047 Belfry of the City Hall of Calais Calais Pas-de-Calais Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-048 Belfry of the City Hall of Hesdin Hesdin Pas-de-Calais Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-049 Belfry of Abbeville Abbeville Somme Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-050 Belfry of Somme Amiens Somme Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-051 Belfry of the former Municipal Hall of Doullens Doullens Somme Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-052 Belfry on the remaining City Gate of Lucheux Lucheux Somme Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-053 Belfry of Rue Rue Somme Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-054 Belfry of Saint-Riquier Saint-Riquier Somme Hauts-de-France France 2005 943-055 Belfry of Gembloux Gembloux Namur Wallonia Belgium 2005 943-056
See also List of World Heritage Sites in Belgium List of World Heritage Sites in France
Notes
References
External links
Brief description of the ensemble ID 943/943bis, UNESCO Website
Detailed argumentation for list ID 943/943bis, UNESCO Website
The complete list ID 943/943bis, UNESCO Website (monuments ordered by UNESCO ID, which precedes the corresponding monument in this Wikipedia article's main list) Articles on the phenomenon of the belfries from the Flemish Department of Monuments and Landscapes The Belgian belfries on the UNESCO list ID 943 (without Gembloux) with photographs and slideshows – from the Flemish Department of Monuments and Landscapes The French belfries on the UNESCO list ID 943bis with photographs and descriptions; and a general article The French belfries on the UNESCO list ID 943bis with thumbnails, photographs and descriptions