Interior of Tournai Notre Dame Cathedral in Belgium
The Notre Dame Cathedral of Tournai is UNESCO World Heritage site. I am continuing this post from the post on facade of this cathedral.
Stand tall and stoically since 11th century, Cathedral of Tournai has borne the ravages of time and man. It survived the heavy bombing in WW 2, particularly the street side facade.
The cathedral bore the brunt of 1999 tornado too. The sculpted images are old and crumbling but not damaged. The grey look of them still has that old magic; I stood watching those details which will soon vanish with time. The line of statues here date from 14th to 17th century.
Interior of Tournai Notre Dame Cathedral
When we walked into the cathedral the huge interior of the cathedral almost dazed us.
All parts of interior of Notre Dame Cathedral, Tournai were not accessible because of ongoing repairs, yet the portions we saw looked stunning.
There are several chapels lined along the sides i the interior of the cathedral. Plenty of signages, both in English and local language, explain the history and description of the cathedral. Very informative, one has to have the time to read all of it though.
There is an interesting museum inside which we gained entry with two euros. It was the crypt with different monstrance, reliquaries, precious artifacts in gold and silver.
The tall walls are studded with stained glass windows, on bright day the altar must be definitely flooded with colorful light. Those pillars and arches are made of city’s blue stone I read, but they didn’t look blue to me.
The sight of organ and rose window in the west facade will stop you on your tracks.
The beautiful rose window in the picture below. It was installed there in 19th century replacing the one from 15th century.
Virgin Mary in the center and Prophets in compartments around it, I felt compelled to zoom in to this marvelous stain glass work.
Timings of Tournai Cathedral
Entry to Notre Dame Tournai is free. You need tickets to enter the tower and the crypt. During my visit in 2011 the tickets costed 2 euros per person, now (2020) the costs have gone up to 8.50 euros to go up the tower and 6 euros for entry to crypt.
Tickets to Tournai Cathedral
The Cathedral is open on weekdays: 9 am to 6 pm and weekends and holidays: from 9 am to 12 am and 2 pm to 6 pm for the moths from April 1st to October 31st.
It is open in winter on weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm and weekends and holidays from 9 am to 12 pm and from 2 pm to 5 pm for the months November 1st to March 31st.
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Such a beautiful structure. And to think that it survived the WW bombing also. Imagine how strong it must be. I will definitely like to visit here when I go to Belgium
I didn’t know the Notre Dame cathedral in Belgium was a UNESCO world heritage site. I’m glad it survived the bombing of WWII and that it is still accessible. Good to know about the museum so we know what to skip. 😉
You captured the relief of the statues in the first photo very well! The stained glass is magnificent.
What magnificent interiors and shots!
I breathe deeply when I take in your images.
these old european churches are really awesome.
amazing…
Wonderful shots of Notre Dame.
wow! very beautiful building…
your photos also good esp last one…
thanks for sharing
Very amazing design of the cathedral, love the stained glass patterns.
Wonderful photos, that beauty, excellent catches in this cathedral. Greetings.
Beautiful captures of amazing structures!
you show it so well
Aloha from Waikiki,
Comfort Spiral
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Fascinating pictures – the last one is brilliant !
a true classic.
It is sad to learn the statues are crumbling, but still so much beauty! Terrific captures, Indrani! The rose window is indeed magnificent! Thanks for sharing the beauty and the history!!
I'm sorry to read that the statues are crumbling, but I'm glad you got the picture to share with us. The interior looks very impressive. The rose window is magnificent.
Wow.. Magnificent cathedral. Nice captures, Indrani.
Beautiful images and the stained window, that's superb.