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Situated a few yards from the Town Belfry, the belfry of the church of Saint John the Baptist dominates the town, competing with the Town Belfry and the cathedral.

Built during the 16th century, under the patronage of Saint Nicolas in the Moats, replacing a church in the moats where Saint Thomas à Becket had preached, it was saved from destruction during the French Revolution because it became the ‘Temple of Reason’.
It was the temporary cathedral between 1803 and 1833. In 1915 it was burnt down in the bombings of the town, causing the death of two heroic firemen (Wacquez and Glasson). The nearby road bears their names.

Its reconstruction in the neo-gothic style is the work of the architect Mulard, following the plans of Henri Mazet. The architects chose walls of reinforced concrete and brick, faced with stone.

The nave, lit by contemporary stained glass windows, is famous for the monumental painting of “The Descent from the Cross” by Peter-Paul Rubens (1625), ordered by the monks of St.Vaast Abbey for their church.

The retable of the north-side altar is also remarkable, saved from the chapel of the ‘Saint Chandelle’ situated on the Place des Heros and destroyed in 1792. In the centre is the oldest statue representing Notre Dame des Ardents (14th century) : a Virgin and Child, carrying the miraculous candle.

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