Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai

• Management systems / management plan
• Buildings and development (interpretative and visitation facilities)

Since the end of 2019, the World Heritage Centre received information from third parties and been notified by the State Party of three projects that have a significant impact on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property:

• The first project was the plan for the redevelopment of the Scheldt Crossing at Tournai, including the transformation of the Pont des Trous, located in the wider setting of the property and within the buffer zone of the Tournai component of the ‘Belfries of Belgium and France’. This project involved the destruction of the three arches of the medieval ‘Pont des Trous’ bridge (which was damaged in the Second World War and rebuilt immediately afterwards), followed by a modern, adapted reconstruction. Works commenced in 2019 and the bridge was rebuilt with an enlarged central arch and reduced side arches;
• The second project, the SMART Centre (now ‘Carré Jansen’), adjacent to the ‘Notre-Dame Cathedral’, involved the conversion of four historic buildings and the construction of a new structure with a panoramic terrace on top in the courtyard between the buildings;
• The third project, notified by the State Party, is the planned restoration and extension of the Fine Arts Museum (Musée des Beaux Arts) in Tournai, designed by Victor Horta.

The World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS (which provided Technical Reviews of the information and documentation submitted) expressed their concerns about all three projects in exchanges with the State Party. However, these concerns persisted and given the lack of opportunity for active dialogue between the State Party, the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS during the planning phases, the World Heritage Centre requested on 19 October 2023 that the State Party submit a report on the state of conservation of the property by 1 February 2024.

On 1 February 2024, the State Party submitted the requested state of conservation report, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1009/documents/, providing the following information:

• The ‘Pont des Trous’ was inaugurated on 14 April 2023. Detailed information concerning the deconstruction and reconstruction is attached to the report;
• The restoration of the Notre-Dame Cathedral is in progress. Work on the Romanesque elements has been completed and the Gothic elements (including the choir) will be restored over a period of several years;
• The ‘Carré Jansen’ project was conceived as part of the restoration project of the Notre-Dame Cathedral and aims to revitalise the area around it, including the refurbishment and reuse of the former priests’ building complex, which has been abandoned for a long time. The project also includes the construction of a footbridge to provide a direct connection to the gallery of the Cathedral. The report is accompanied by an impact assessment;
• Future steps for the restoration of the Cathedral, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines;
• Information on the refurbishment of the Musée des Beaux Arts, which will include the construction of a three-storey tower to provide visitors with a view of the city and its monuments. Its impact on the cathedral and the belfry is considered minimal or slightly positive. The municipal authorities have decided to postpone the project until the next legislative period (2025).

A Technical Review by ICOMOS on the information and updates on the ‘Pont des Trous’ and the ‘Carré Jansen’ projects, included in the State Party’s submitted report, was transmitted to the State Party on 16 May 2024.

ICOMOS, in its Technical Review of April 2024, considered that the destruction of the Pont des Trous in 1940 and its reconstruction in 1946 was an important episode in the recent history of Tournai, and that its post-war reconstruction had a strong symbolic meaning which has been lost with the recent deconstruction and reconstruction. In addition, ICOMOS considered that this project irreversibly damaged the unified vision of the main medieval monuments in the urban symbolism of Tournai, and that the reconstruction was an inadequate remedy to compensate for the negative impact of the demolition on the integrity of the property, as well as on the Tournai Belfry. The Committee may therefore wish to state that the project has resulted in a negative impact on the historical integrity of Tournai, which is inextricably linked to the integrity of the property and the Tournai component of the ‘Belfries of Belgium and France’.

The ‘Carré Jansen’ project is already underway, despite the advice from the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS that it should be halted and modified to avoid negative impacts on the Cathedral and Tournai Belfry. In its most recent Technical Review, ICOMOS noted that the proposed new footbridge is intended to re-establish a former link created in the 18th century between the Hôtel des Anciens Prêtres and the Cathedral, and also to maintain public access to the Cathedral while it is being restored. Nevertheless, the infill of the courtyard of the building complex adjacent to the Cathedral and its planned panoramic terrace, which will create a vertical element in competition with the Cathedral, are considered to have a negative impact on the OUV of the property, distorting the historic urban fabric and altering a consolidated balance between the Cathedral, the Belfry and the historic urban components of the city. It is regrettable that the State Party did not consider alternatives and did not engage in dialogue with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies during the planning process, which commenced in 2014. In view of the historical role of the Cathedral and the Belfry for Tournai and their inseparable connection with its historic centre, the State Party should be reminded of the importance of both the buffer zone and the wider setting of World Heritage properties in their role of supporting the protection and preservation of their OUV and should be requested to halt the implementation of this project and reconsider its revision as a mitigation measure in consultation with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies.

The Musée des Beaux Arts is located in the wider setting of the Cathedral and within the buffer zone of the Tournai component of the ‘Belfries of Belgium and France’, and its refurbishment is timely and justified. However, the proposed extension represents a significant change to its original design as well as to the historic urban fabric of Tournai. In a Technical Review of August 2022, ICOMOS considered that the impact assessment prepared for the project had shortcomings, and that the proposal, if implemented, would result in a negative impact on the integrity of the World Heritage properties in Tournai. The State Party should therefore be encouraged to revise the impact assessment to ensure that it is prepared in accordance with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context and that it includes the potential impact of the planned high-rise addition on the OUV of the property and that of the ‘Belfries of Belgium and France’. The revised impact assessment will need to be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies, and the State Party should be invited to engage in dialogue with them to discuss alternative solutions.

The three projects, each in a different way, constitute irreversible alterations to the historic fabric of Tournai and pose a cumulative threat to the preservation of the OUV of the property and the ‘Belfries of Belgium and France’. The fact that all three projects received approval from the competent authorities indicates that the supporting role of the buffer zone and the wider setting of the property in maintaining its OUV is not adequately considered in the protection and management system. The State Party should therefore be requested to undertake a thorough identification of the attributes that convey the OUV of the World Heritage properties in Tournai, strengthen the regulatory system for the protection of their buffer zone and wider setting, fully align the planning and management framework of the properties with the objective of protecting and preserving their OUV, develop a joint management plan for the two World Heritage properties in Tournai, use impact assessments prepared in accordance with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context from the early stages of project planning to avoid or mitigate inappropriate proposals, and extend the buffer zone of the ‘Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai’ property to align it with the larger buffer zone of the Tournai component of the ‘Belfries of Belgium and France’.