Tournai or Tournay (/tʊərˈneɪ/ toor-NAY, French: [tuʁnɛ] ⓘ; Picard: Tornai; Walloon: Tornè [tɔʀnɛ] ⓘ; Dutch: Doornik [ˈdoːrnɪk] ⓘ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Province of Hainaut, Belgium.

It lies 89 km (55 mi) by road southwest of the centre of Brussels on the river Scheldt,[3] and is part of Eurometropolis Lille–Kortrijk–Tournai,[4] In 2022, the municipality of Tournai had an estimated population of 68,518 people.

In 862, Charles the Bald, first king of Western Francia and still to become Holy Roman Emperor, would make Tournai the seat of the County of Flanders.

The city participated in 11th-century rise of towns in the Low Countries, with a woollen cloth industry based on English wool, which soon made it attractive to wealthy merchants.

The stone Bridge of the Holes [da; fr; it; nl; pcd] over the Scheldt, with defensive towers at either end, was built in 1290, replacing an earlier wooden structure.

In 1521, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V added the city to his possessions in the Low Countries, leading to a period of religious strife and economic decline.

During the 16th century, Tournai was a bulwark of Calvinism, but eventually it was conquered by the Spanish governor of the Low Countries, the Duke of Parma, following a prolonged siege in 1581.

After the fall of the city, its Protestant inhabitants were given one year to sell their possessions and emigrate, a policy that was at the time considered relatively humane, since very often religious opponents were simply massacred.

The mixed Romanesque- and Gothic-style Cathedral of Our Lady and the city's Belfry, considered the oldest in Belgium,[12] have been designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.

[13][14] Inside the cathedral, the Châsse de Notre-Dame flamande, a beautifully ornate 12th-century reliquary, gives witness to Tournai's wealth in the Middle Ages.

Other places of interest are the 13th-century Scheldt bridge (Pont des Trous)[15] and the main square (Grand-Place), as well as several old city gates, historic warehouses, and a variety of museums.