Arras - France

"Decided in 1463, the construction of the Arras belfry was only completed 91 years later. However, it was a great success, this "prodigious slim belfry, indented with a thousand caprices, that raises to the clouds (…) its enormous, light structure" (Paul Verlaine, 1889).

75 metres high, this Gothic tower provides the finishing touch to the town hall and two famous squares in Arras, with the splendid row of 155 houses, all different, in Flemish baroque style.
The belfry is topped with the imperial crown of Charles Quint, king of the Netherlands, inspired by that of Audenarde belfry in Belgium, recalling the fact that the county of Artois used to belong to the Germanic Holy Roman Empire.
In 1914, everything collapsed under the bombing raids. Rebuilt “exactly as before”, the belfry has a cement framework onto which the stone dressing is attached. And in 1932, a set of 37 bells restored the soul to this splendid example of human genius." - in: http://www.northernfrance-tourism.com/beffrois/the-belfry-of-arras.html