Belfries of Belgium and France

Infobox World Heritage Site
WHS = Belfries of Belgium and France


State Party = BEL and FRA
Type = Cultural
Criteria = ii, iv
ID = 943
Region = Europe and North America
Year = 1999
Session = 23rd
Extension = 2005
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/943

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An unequalled ensemble of fifty-six Belfries of Belgium and France is designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Site, in recognition of an architectural manifestation of emerging civic independence in historic Flanders and neighbouring regions from feudal and religious influences, leading to a degree of local democracy of great significance in the history of humankind.

UNESCO inscribed 32 towers onto its list of Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia in 1999. In 2005, the belfry of Gembloux in the Walloon Region of Belgium and 23 belfries from the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardie "régions" in the northern tip of France were appended to the renamed list. A notable omission is the Brussels City Hall belfry, as it was already part of the Grand Place World Heritage Site.

Besides civic belfries, or buildings such as city halls that rather obviously may have rendered a similar service, the list includes religious buildings that also had served as watchtower or alarm bell tower: the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, the St. Rumbolds Tower in Mechelen, and the St. Leonard's Church in Zoutleeuw - all three in Flanders, Belgium. Few of the towers are freestanding.

Belgium

ID numbers correspond to the order in the complete list ID 943/943bis from UNESCO, see External links

Flanders

=Antwerp=

Flemish Brabant

=Namur=

Picardy

Somme

ee also

* List of World Heritage Sites in Europe

External links

* [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/943 Brief description of the ensemble ID 943/943bis, UNESCO Website]
* [http://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/943bis.pdf Detailed argumentation for list ID 943/943bis, UNESCO Website]
* [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/943/multiple=1&unique_number=1100 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)
* [http://paola.erfgoed.net/belfort/en/freducatief.htm Articles on the phenomenon of the belfries] from the Flemish Department of Monuments and Landscapes
* [http://paola.erfgoed.net/belfort/en/fiches/fiches.htm The Belgian belfries on the UNESCO list ID 943 (without Gembloux)] with photographs and slideshows – from the Flemish Department of Monuments and Landscapes
* [http://www.nordmag.fr/patrimoine/beffrois/les_beffrois.htm The French belfries on the UNESCO list ID 943bis] with photographs and descriptions; and a general article
* [http://www.beffrois.fr The French belfries on the UNESCO list ID 943bis] with thumbnails, photographs and descriptions

Footnotes