Although it was as early as 637 that a monk called ‘Omer’ after whom St Omer is named, was sent to evangelise Therouanne, it was not really until the 13th Century that it rose to some degree of prominence, becoming as prosperous as Bruges, another medieval town surrounded by water. The work which began on the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral at that time took three centuries to complete. Widely recognised as the most beautiful intact vestige of gothic architecture to be found north of Paris, it houses a famous Rubens painting of Christ being removed from the cross as well as an incredible astrological clock, said to be one of the oldest clocks in France, dating from 1558, and showing days, months, signs of the Zodiac and, of course, the time. The impressive vast organ was built in 1717 by local sculptors and carpenters.
