Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek

Northeast Belgium


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 Markt. The basilica marks the first place north of the Alps where the Virgin Mary is said to have been worshipped.

Look in the north transept to see a much-venerated 1479 Madonna statue feeding baby Jesus with grapes. This image is piously paraded around the city every seventh year in the large-scale if very staid Kroningsfeesten (next occurring in 2023). The basilica's rich treasury forms the core of the new religio-historical TeSeUm museum.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Northeast Belgium attractions

1. TeSeUm

0.03 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…

2. Ambiorix Statue

0.05 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…

3. Gallo-Roman Museum

0.08 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…

4. Tongeren Begijnhof

0.21 MILES

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…

5. NATO War Command

9.22 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. Fort St Pieter

10.38 MILES

Set within a deep-cut dry moat, this hefty five-sided brick fort once formed the city's southern defence and is linked to a network of underground tunnels…

7. Maastricht Underground

10.39 MILES

Maastricht Underground runs spooky, amusing and fascinating tours into sections of the vast tunnel network beneath St-Pietersberg massif. Departures run…

8. Montagne de Bueren

10.45 MILES

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