Saint Martin

Guide : In the choir of Saint-Martin, the Renaissance windows and the Corpus Christi murals compete for the eye without ever harming one another. The walls painted by Adolphe Tassin between 1902 and 1907 recall that the first celebration of Corpus Christi took place here in 1246, while the 16th-century glass turns the whole space into historical light. This is not only beautiful decoration: it is liturgical memory staged. Does your eye go first to the glass, or to Juliana of Cornillon on the walls?

Guide : You stand at the centre of the nave, facing the choir where, in 1246, Corpus Christi was first celebrated. Seventy-five metres of Mosan Gothic rebuilt after the 1312 fire under prince-bishop Érard de La Marck. The chequered floor sets the rhythm of the walk, the long red rows of chairs pace the space. What do you look at first — the choir at the far end, or the vault above?

Guide : You stand atop one of the oldest medieval towers in Liège, on the Publémont. At your feet, the grey slates of the basilica. All around, the city unfolds its roofs down to the Meuse. From this very place started, in 1312, the fire that scarred Liège for centuries. What do you see first — the modern city, or the 16th-century stone?