Cross-eyed tower - Tournai

Tour de la Loucherie is translated as "The Leaning Tower" and is located on the corner of Ruer Garnier and Rue de la Loucherie.

It is a restoration of a Roman tower , to which the first street on the right, Rue Loucherie, refers.
That tower is here, because a little further on at the Oude Botermarkt there must have been a Roman estate in the year 50 BC . Not far from a ford in the Scheldt and owned by a certain Turnus . His name has survived him: Tournai – Tournai is named after him.

In less than a century, an important place was created around that domain, located on the Roman road from Cologne to Boulogne, and a bridge was built over the Scheldt. Another thing: 'heir' means army, those soldiers slept on the road in the he(i)rberg.

La Loucherie is the name of the hill where the Romans founded their first stronghold. Today this district is referred to by that name.

It is a remnant of the so-called Gallo-Roman wall and was built in the most favorable position, at the top of a steep slope, on the edge of the southern plateau. The city walls, in a rough semicircle between the Rue des Carliers and the Rue des Noirets, were built when Rome was threatened by barbarian raids.
The tower of La Loucherie - owed to the Le Louchier family with its emblem of a "louchet" - gives access to the Bavai bridge and became redundant when Tournai built its first municipal wall, the remains of which are still numerous. La Loucherie was not destroyed like its neighbors, the Verriers, in 1551.

Afterwards, some residents used it as a home, not looking for comfort or space, but simply as a shelter.

On May 16, 1940 , German bombs destroyed the historic center and the tower rose from the rubble. In 1955, "a full restoration was begun which involved tearing down the ugly brick floor, strengthening the foundations, making a roof and completely regrouting the rubble".

Willem Vandenameele