Musée des Beaux-Arts

Wallonia


This airy gallery was designed by art nouveau maestro Victor Horta. Though the interior and display halls are in need of a pep-up, it has a rich collection, including items by Tournai’s best-known artist, the brilliant 15th-century Rogier Van der Weyden (Roger de la Pasture); works by Rubens, Jacob Jordaens, Manet and Monet; a beautiful Seurat seascape; and sketches by Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec. In the central atrium, a flying purple hippo gazes benevolently down on more classical sculptural forms.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Wallonia attractions

2. Musée de Folklore

0.19 MILES

This is a lovable and sizeable warren of fascinating city-relevant relics and ethnographic artefacts. It's all in French, but many of the cameo scenes are…

3. Halle Aux Draps

0.24 MILES

Tournai's former cloth hall is the Grand Place's finest building, with an elegant gilt-detailed facade and a brick-vaulted interior that opens for…

4. Beffroi

0.24 MILES

Belgium’s oldest belfry is 72m high with a narrow 257-step spiral staircase that becomes even narrower higher up. There's a good multilingual display on…

5. Grand Place

0.26 MILES

Tournai’s gorgeous triangular main square is ringed with cafes in fine gable-fronted guildhouses merrily flying guild banners. Kids play in ‘dare-you’…

6. Église St-Quentin

0.27 MILES

Église St-Quentin is a hefty Romanesque church with a 12th-century nave, posterior Gothic features and a striking red-tiled roof. When viewed from near…

7. Trésor de la Cathédrale

0.3 MILES

There are some impressive pieces in the treasury in the heart of Tournai's cathedral, including a fabulous 'Last Judgement' châsse (casket), a striking…

8. Cathédrale Notre Dame

0.3 MILES

Dominating Tournai’s skyline are the five spires of its remarkable cathedral, which survived WWII bombs only for a freak 1999 tornado to compromise its…