State Archives in Belgium - The State Archives in Tournai opens in brand new premises

The State Archives in Tournai opens in brand new premises

Since Tuesday 7^th of July 2009, the State Archives in Tournai welcomes you in its brand new premises located at Rue des Augustins 20 during the usual opening hours.
An entirely renovated building, holding precious documents that are sometimes a few centuries old, in a place loaded with history: this is what awaits you and everyone passionate about history, every genealogist, researcher or student.

Located at the site of former Casterman printing company, Rue des Augustins, and a mere ten minutes walk from the Grand-Place, the building with a surface of slightly more than 2,000 m² can house some 13 kilometres of archive shelves. To this date, more than 4 kilometres of archives have already found their new home there. In the bright and spacious reading room, up to 60 people can work at the same time. Our collaborators will be glad to provide you assistance and guidance, so that our archive fonds, collections and publications can be used in an optimal and fruitful manner for your research. An exhibition space will regularly host various events. The building is equipped for persons with reduced mobility.

The State Archives furthermore continues its efforts to further digitise its records and provide access to documents preserved at other archives repositories. Already now, the parish registers and civil status registers of the Province of Walloon Brabant and Namur can be consulted in digital format in Tournai. The digital images of the parish registers and civil status registers of the other provinces, the repertories of the notaries and the registers of the aldermanic court offices will progressively become available in Tournai.

Another highlight is the publication of a new archives guide entitled “Regional and local public institutions in Hainaut and Tournai-Tournaisis during the Ancien Régime” (Les Institutions publiques régionales et locales en Hainaut et Tournai-Tournaisis sous l’Ancien Régime) that should allow researchers to better find their way through the fonds and collections preserved in Tournai. The guide presents the “classic” political and juridical institutions (sovereign/count, manor, chancellery, council and bailiwick, castle lords, States, cities, etc.) and other less well-known institutions formerly in charge of the administration of the land (disputed lands, freehold land), finance, economy and estates (private revenues, comptrollers, Marechaussee, Mint) or military and notaries. The guide is published in the series Studia (no. 119) and counts 571 pages. It can be bought at the State Archives in Tournai and in Mons as well as at the National Archives in Brussels for 23 euros.

> Have a look at the brochure edited for the occasion

Last Updated ( Friday, 09 October 2009 )

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