Tongeren

Understand

The city is the capital of both an administrative and a judicial district. The municipality has 31,000 inhabitants (2018) in an area of 87.56 km ². 17,000 people live in the old town. Tongeren is in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. French is also widely spoken as Wallonia including the big city of Liège is nearby. People generally speak at least basic English as well.

History Archaeologists have found objects in the region dating from between 5300 and 4800 BC, and the oldest remains of buildings are from a Roman camp standing there from 30 BC, which was abandoned after a decade or so to be occupied by the Tungri tribe. It's unclear who the Tungri were; local tribes, Germans coming across the Rhine, or an alliance of these (tungri in Celtic means "companions"). The Romans then named the place Atuatuca Tungrorum - the fortress of the Tungri. In 69-70 AD, local tribes revolted against the Roman rule in an event known as the Revolt of the Batavi. The Romans put down the revolt and burned down the fortress. With Romans controlling the region, the fortress and town was rebuilt. A road to Cassel (near Paris), an aqueduct, a temple and many commerces were constructed to make it the capital of civitas Tungrorum . Later ramparts and walls were built to protect the prospering city from attacks by Franks and Vandals. In the 4th century also Christianity arrived, and Saint Materne of Cologne set up a diocese seat in the town and converted the population. The diocese would soon be moved to Maastricht and finally to Liège which became the main city of the region and the capital of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, part of the Holy Roman Empire. Tongeren still remained the second city of the principality, as officially declared in the 1316 Peace of Feixhe, a kind of Magna Carta. A few decades earlier, between 1241 and 1290 a new city wall with six gates and twelve fortified towers had been built. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the region saw many wars between the states in the

Getting there

You can use the route planner at http://delijn.be for routes and schedules for all public transport in Belgium - both for getting to and around Tongeren

By plane The nearest airports are in Liège and Maastricht. As of early 2023, the former is mostly a cargo airport with some charter flights, whereas the latter also has a few budget flights operated by Ryanair. Brussels airport has a much wider range of flights and destinations.

By car East from Maastricht 18 km on N79. South from Liège 31 km on E313 (exit 32) or N20. North from Hasselt 29 km on E313 or N20. West from Sint-Truiden 22 km on N79. West from Brussels 89 km on E40 (exit 29) and N69

By train Hourly trains from Liège Guillemins take 40 minutes to reach Tongeren. Trains also run hourly from Brussels, taking one hour 50 minutes.

1 Tongeren train station (NMBS), Stationsplein 1. Train station with an information and ticket office. It also has a cafeteria and ATM. (updated May 2022)

By bus There are buses from Hasselt (line 4), Liège (line 74), Maastricht (line 62) and Sint-Truiden (line 23a).

Getting around

By bus There are four city bus lines, one of which goes to the village of Herstappe. They run from Monday to Saturday. To travel on Sunday, you can call +32 11 850300 to order a bus. A single ticket costs €2.50, and a 24-hr ticket €7.50.

By car Getting around by car is generally not a problem as there's little traffic and roads are in a good condition. In the old town, streets are narrow and parking are paid. There are three underground parkings in town. Allego operates 27 charging stations (2-11 kW and 22 kW) for electric cars in Tongeren municipality.

By scooter 2 Vespatoerist, Rutterweg 85, ☏ +32 460 944066. Vespa rental office, with 50 cc and 125 cc engines. On Facebook. (updated May 2022)

By bike In the city, one-way streets can be ridden by bike only when signposted by either of these signs: or .

3 Blue-bike, Stationplein. Bike rental with the rental station open 24h, you need to sign up online beforehand. (updated Aug 2022) 4 Marco's Velo Shop, Maastrichterstraat 99, ☏ +32 12 393966. Selling, rental and service of bikes. (updated May 2022)

By e-scooter 5 Step Bai Step, Vrijthof 1 (in the Café Gerechtshof), ☏ +32 12 742078, [email protected]. Rental of e-scooters (Ninebot G30 max), customers need to be 13 years old. (updated Jun 2022)

By foot Tongeren is a relatively small and flat city, easy to navigate by foot to the major attractions (they're generally just a few hundred metres away from each other).

See

Religious buildings

1 Basilica of Our Lady and belfry (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Basiliek), Grote Markt, ☏ +32 12 39 40 34. Apr-Sep: M 13:30-17:00, Tu-Su 10:00-12:00 and 13:30-17:00. One of the most beautiful medieval monuments in the world. Built in Gothic style in the 13th century, where excavations have produced some of the richest archaeological finds in Flanders. Archaeological excavations have proven the presence of an edifice here starting from the 4th century, while a Carolingian prayer house existed here in the 9th century. The building of the choir of the present basilica began in 1240. Nave, transepts and side chapels were added between the 13th and 15th century. The original Romanesque tower was replaced by the present, 64-m-tall Gothic tower from 1442 until 1541. The basilica's interior is home to the statue of Our Lady of Tongeren, executed in 1475. The treasury is housed in the former hall of the Chapter and comprises one of the richest collections of religious art in Belgium. The basilica has excellent acoustics and is often used for symphony concerts. The belfry tower is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. €2.50 for treasury. 2 St. Catherina's Béguinage (OLSint-Catharinabegijnhof). The béguinage is founded in 1257 and is one of the oldest in Flanders. In the second half of the 16th century escalated the rivalry between Catholics and Protestants in which the possessions of the Beguines were looted and destroyed. In the 17th century the béguinage came to an unprecedented boom and the Beguines became wealthy. The wooden houses were replaced by stone ones. Its heyday was at the beginning of the 18th century. The béguinage counted nearly 100 homes and more than 300 Beguines. In the 19th century it was opened up and became a whole with the rest of the town. Since 1998 it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. free.

3 St. Catherine church (Sint-Catharinakerk), Brouwersstraat 7. The church in the centre of the Beguinage has elements from many eras, the oldest

Do

Geocaching - there are 157 caches of different sizes in the municipality, four of which are accessible to mobility impaired people. 1 City Golf, Via Julianus 2 (starting from the tourist office), ☏ +32 12 800070, [email protected]. The city arranges golf tours around the city upon request, where the city becomes a golf course. You need to book ahead for your party and can choose between a 6 hole of 9 hole course. (updated May 2022) 2 Fishing, Sint-Stefanuss