Tongeren

Tongeren was founded as a Roman town in the first century BC and claims to be the oldest in Belgium, and stretches of the second-century Roman wall survive along with a substantial archaeological record that the Gallo-Roman Museum presents in a well-regarded modern display running from the Neanderthals to the Merovingians. The basilica of Our Lady is a large Gothic church with a treasury holding medieval reliquaries and metalwork of high quality, and a Romanesque cloister. Every Sunday morning the town holds an antiques and flea market that fills the streets with several hundred stalls and is among the largest of its kind in the Benelux, drawing dealers from several countries and starting before dawn.

History

As Atuatuca Tungrorum the town was the capital of the Roman Civitas Tungrorum, covering much of present-day Belgian Limburg and the lands around it, and it is the only Roman administrative capital within Belgium's borders. Before the Romans the area belonged to the Eburones, largest of the Belgic tribes called Germani cisrhenani, and Caesar's Aduatuca, the fort of the Eburones, is widely identified with Tongeren, though some argue the name was a common one and that the town shows no trace of pre-Roman settlement (Wikipedia, Tongeren).

What's there

• Roman town walls - second-century stretches around the old centre.
• The Gallo-Roman Museum - a modern display from prehistory to the Merovingians.
• The basilica treasury - medieval reliquaries and metalwork.
• The Sunday antiques market - several hundred stalls from before dawn.

When to go

Sunday morning for the market, which is the main event and starts around six; April to October for the town generally. A day. The museum closes on Mondays. The market ends by early afternoon.

Things to know

The market is Sunday only and the town is much quieter the rest of the week. Dealers arrive before dawn and the best goods go early. Museum labelling is mainly in Dutch. Roman remains are fragments rather than a site.

Nearby

Alden Biesen is east; the Haspengouw orchards lie north-west.

Key facts