Tournai, is a French – speaking city in Belgium located in Picardy Wallonia and Romanesque Flanders , administrative center of the province of Hainaut and seat of the bishopric from Tournai. Tournai is one of the oldest cities in Belgium and has played an important role in the country’s cultural history. It was the first capital of the Frankish Empire, with Clovis I being born here.

Sights

Several abbeys 

• The abbey of Saint-Martin , probably founded in the vii ^th  century , was maintained until 1796. The main altar of the destroyed church was transferred to the Cathedral of Tournai. 
• The abbey of Saint-Médard is the name which bears today The old abbey of Saint-Nicolas-des-Près.
• The Abbey of Saint-Nicolas-des-Prés , founded in 1125 in Saint-Médard hill, occupied during the French Revolution , the buildings of the Episcopal seminary current.

Religious architecture 

• The Notre Dame Cathedral .
• The Saint-Quentin church .
• The church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine , in Gothic style, has been abandoned for several decades. Gauthier de Marvis , then bishop of Tournai, wanted this church to be built. 
• The Sainte-Marguerite church , disused since the 1960s and sold in 2004. (The most recent project concerning these last two churches is their possible transformation into social housing.) It was built in 1760 under the aegis of the superior of the religious of Saint-Médard, Father Jean-Baptiste Vanderheyden, to replace an older church which was destroyed by fire in 1733.
• The Saint-Jacques church .
• The church of Saint-Piat was built in the xii ^th  century on the site of a Merovingian basilica of the vi ^th  century . It owes its name to Saint Piat , the first Christian missionary in Tournai, who founded the first church in the city, whose bishop will be Saint Eleuthera .
• The Church of the Redemptorists .
• The Saint-Brice church . At first hesitant, because nourishing resentments vis-à-vis Saint Martin (his predecessor), Saint Brice , bishop of Tours , decided to build a chapel in 437 on the site where the church would later be erected. medieval bearing his name. TheMarch 27, 1653The tomb of Childeric I ^er , father of Clovis , was discovered near the said church.
• The Saint-Jean church .
• The Saint-Nicolas church .
• The Tournai seminar .

Civil architecture 

• The belfry
• The Cloth Hall
• The Town Hall which is the abbey palace of the former Saint-Martin abbey .
• Romanesque houses, street-Barre Saint-Brice
• The houses of the Jesuits ,
• The station area with several Art Nouveau houses .

Military architecture 

• The bridge of holes .
• The Tower Henry VIII
• The fortifications
• Fort Rouge
• The citadel (Ruquoy barracks)

Museums 

• The archeology museum
• The Royal Museum of Weapons and Military History
• The Museum of Fine Arts
• The natural history museum
• The Museum of History and Decorative Arts
• The museum of tapestry and fabric arts
• The Tournaisienne House or folklore museum
• The Puppet House 

Statues and monuments

• The statue of Barthélémy Dumortier
• Guillaume Charlier’s Group of the Blind
• Monument to Jean Noté
• Louis Gallait statue
• The statue of Martine , created in homage to Marcel Marlier’s Martine , by Carlos Surquin and located in rue Perdue near Fort Rouge .
• La Naïade: this work by George Grard was installed on the bridge at Pont in 1950. Its nudity caused a scandal at the time and led to its relegation to the bottom of the bridge. It returned to its original location in 1983.
• The fountain of Pichou Saint Piat
• The Princess of Espinoy
• Saint Luke painting the Virgin
• The statue of Jules Bara

Gastronomy 

• The perjured Monday rabbit (or “lost Monday”)
• Tournaisian salad
• Le mutiau, finely chopped pressed head
• The successes of the day
• “Desobry” cookies
• Tournai balloons
• The aperitifs “Le tournaisien” and “La tournaisienne”, “Le pont des holes”

The products of the Tournai entity:

• “La Tournay” beer from the Brasserie de Cazeau (the only brewery in the Tournai entity)
• The “Saint-Martin” beer, blond or dark, has its roots in 1096. Its glass represents one of the many stained glass windows in Tournai cathedral. ( from the Brunehaut brewery )

Festivities

• The “Great Procession” (in French: Grande Procession) is a procession initiated by the bishop Radbot II during a plague epidemic. It has taken place every year since 1092, with the single exception of the year 1566, when the iconoclasts considerably damaged the religious symbols of the city. This historic procession unfolds in the streets every second Sunday of September.
• The first Monday after January 6 is known as “Lost Monday” (in French: Lundi perdu) or “Perjury Monday” (Lundi parjuré). This tradition dates from more than 700 years ago. The wealthier city inhabitants used to prepare fastidious family dinners and elect a king. Today, the family dinners have expanded to wider groups and a rabbit dish is often served.