Founded in 1828, during the Dutch period, by science enthusiasts convinced of the value of zoological collections, the Tournai Museum opened its doors to the public in September 1829. As such, it is the oldest museum in the country open to the public. Thanks to the renown of its founders, in particular Barthélémy Dumortier, specimens poured in in large quantities and formed the basis of the collections now housed at the museum. Although the passage of time and the wars led to the destruction of many items, the computerised inventory still contains over 20,000 specimens. The museum moved to its current location, in the courtyard of the Hôtel de Ville, in 1839, in a gallery and square room designed by Bruno Renard. The sober, elegant neo-classical architecture of the interior, typical of 19th-century museums, has been carefully preserved, immersing visitors in the atmosphere of 19th-century natural history cabinets. The once-popular alignment of specimens has now been replaced by a modern, educational display. The main gallery offers a retrospective of the animal world, with rich collections from the four corners of the globe giving pride of place to vertebrates, particularly birds and mammals. The square room houses dioramas recreating four typical environments of the Tournaisis region: the Escaut marshes, the limestone quarries, the Hainaut countryside and the Bonsecours forest. Other biotopes concern Belgium and outline Europe. Dioramas of the Antarctic, the Saharan desert, the African savannah and the Asian rainforest complete the range of threatened natural environments on the planet.