Tongeren Begijnhof

Northeast Belgium


Three blocks south and west of Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek is a small web of very pretty backstreets that once formed Tongeren’s begijnhof. One furnished 1660 house here now hosts the little Beghina Museum illustrating begijn lifestyles – cute but not a great draw.

A small canal leads towards Moerenpoort, the chunky 1379 city-gate tower.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Northeast Belgium attractions

1. Gallo-Roman Museum

0.18 MILES

Sternly clad in battleship-grey stone, this very spacious modern museum devotes two well-crafted floors to the evolution of human culture then, after a…

2. TeSeUm

0.18 MILES

Start from the south side of the basilica for this state-of-the-art iPod-led guided tour through the post-Roman history of Tongeren seen through the lens…

3. Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek

0.21 MILES

This central church mostly dates from the 14th to 16th centuries, with a finely proportioned stone tower that dominates Tongeren’s neatly cafe-lined Grote…

4. Ambiorix Statue

0.23 MILES

Staring at the basilica from the main square is a muscular, mustachioed statue. This is local hero Ambiorix, a tribal chieftain who led a brief 54 BC…

5. NATO War Command

9.12 MILES

One of the least-known uses of the St Pietersberg quarry tunnels was as a once-top-secret NATO HQ to be used in times of nuclear conflict. The hospital…

6. Montagne de Bueren

10.25 MILES

Several tiny medieval passageways burrow beneath the house fronts of Rue Hors Château. Most disappear into picturesque hidden yards, but Montagne de…

7. Musée de la Vie Wallonne

10.29 MILES

In an adapted convent-cloister building, this curious museum takes visitors on an amble through the region’s past, exploring everything from 12th-century…

8. Former Palace of the Prince-Bishops

10.29 MILES

Behind an Italian Renaissance facade, this former palace is reputedly one of the largest secular Gothic buildings anywhere in the world. Prior to 1789 it…