Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The belfry of Cambrai, symbol of communal freedoms, has its origins in the 11th century, although its current construction dates mainly from the 15th and 18th centuries. Bishop Manassès had him destroyed in 1095, and then he was restored in 1207 before being demolished again on the orders of Emperor Henry. These repeated destructions reflect tensions between the Cambresian population, ecclesiastical authority and imperial power. The belfry was a tool to appeal to assemblies, to rejoicing, but also to insurrection, which explained its systematic destruction by the authorities.

In 1395 Cambrai finally obtained the right to possess a belfry from Emperor Wenceslas. From 1550 on, this role was performed by the bell tower of the Saint Martin church, erected in Gothic style between 1447 and 1474, culminating at 57 meters. Damaged by lightning in 1528 and during the siege of 1595, its upper part was demolished in 1698. The reconstruction, completed in 1736, changed its silhouette with a dome and a lantern, raising its height to 62 metres. This belfry, spared despite the destruction of the Church of St Martin during the Revolution, embodies resistance and local identity.

The 1920 fire marked a tragic turning point for the belfry. During the August 15 celebrations celebrating the return of the bells and statues lost during the First World War, a fire from Bengal lit the upper platform. The firefighters, unable to extinguish the flames at 60 meters high, witnessed the fall of the big bell, cracked. Recast in 1921, it sounded again for National Day. In 1922, the destroyed statues were replaced by sculptures by Marcel Gaumont, representing a Frank chef, a militia archer, Louise de Savoie and the Marquis de Cézen.

The belfry also housed the gallus, watchmen who had been monitoring the city since the 15th century. Housed in the dome after climbing 248 steps, they announced hours, fires, enemy attacks and curfews. Their role, inherited from the Middle Ages, ended in 1934 with electrification of the bells. An anecdote of 1674 reveals their daily life: the pastors of Saint Martin complained of the "artificial rains" caused by the urine of the gallus falling on the roof of the church, forcing the city to intervene.

Architecturally, the belfry combines 15th-century Gothic elements with 18th-century modifications, such as the lantern replacing the old torso arrow. The four current statues, added after the 1920 fire, celebrate local historical figures: a frank warrior, a soldier of the communal militia, Louise de Savoie (signatory of the Peace of the Ladies in 1529) and the Marquis de Cézen, first royal governor after the annexation of Cambrai by Louis XIV in 1667. Closed to the public due to the state of the marches, there remains a living testimony to the turbulent history of the city.

Future

The belfry of Cambrai is one of the twenty-three belfries of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardie inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005.

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