Dunkirk Town Hall

The Flemish Renaissance-style town hall, designed by the Lille architect Louis-Marie Cordonnier, was built between 1897 and 1901. The belfry , a mix of red brick and stone, is 75 metres high !

The current town hall is far from the first that Dunkirk has known; it stands on the ruins of the previous one. To see the first town hall of Dunkirk , you have to go back to 1233 , on the Place d'Armes , which became Place Charles-Valentin 750 years later. In 1558, Paul de La Barthe de Thermes, nicknamed the “Marshal of Thermes”, plundered the city and the town hall was razed to the ground.

On the façade is an equestrian statue of Louis XIV , who bought the city from the English in 1662. On the façade of the town hall are statues of six men who have marked the history of the city. Originally there were 8 statues, but the two statues on the outside were destroyed during the wars.

The interior of the Belfry is illuminated by a large stained glass window depicting the triumphant return of the Dunkirk pirate Jean Bart after his victory in the Battle of Texel in 1694.

During the Dunkirk Carnival, the mayor and city council members throw 500 kg of smoked herring onto the carnival crowd from the balconies of the town hall!

The belfry is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Belfries in Belgium and France.

Willem Vandenameele