A little history of Cambrai belfry
And also
The tops
Let's talk about Cambrai's belfry... The former one disappeared, the current tower dates back to the 15th century and it belonged in the past to the old Saint-Martin church. It's the first city monument raised, in 1201, after the former belfry's demolition in 1095.
Emperor Frederic demolished it in 1226... and Emperor Maximilian allowed Cambrai to rebuild the belfry in one of the Saint-Martin towers, in 1510. The tower itself and the spire were damaged during a storm in 1528 and demolished in 1732 because they were ruined.
There are two bells in our belfry, called the Royal and the Pagan; the first one was founded in 1557 and restored in 1563. The second one was nicknamed "bottle-feed bell". Funny name! This bell rang each night the cabaret closing... the curfew!
Did you know the gallu kept an eye on the city, from the belfry? Gallus means "rooster" in Latin! People from Cambrai called the sentinel gallu...