The best city hikes and walks around Tongeren

Tongeren is the oldest city in Belgium. The city originates from a camp founded by Sabinus and Cotta, lieutenants of Julius Caesar, whose legions were massacred in 54 BC near Ambiorix, the leader of the Eburones. Sights include the basilica, the beguinage, the statue of Ambiorix, and the antique market that takes place every Sunday.

Anglers can indulge themselves here at 3 fishing ponds. For 2 of these ponds, you need a permit.

The Kimpel pond, located behind the tram bridge, was created by the extraction of clay for the Belisia tile factory in Zeepstraat.

Shonakunst, named after the eponymous ethnic group, emerged in the fifties. Numerous amateur sculptors earned a penny by selling sculptures to tourists. Gradually, an artistic elite emerged, which quickly found its way abroad. In the eighties and nineties, Zimbabwean sculpture became particularly popular in Western Europe. The best-known representative is Dominic Benhura. Already at the age of ten, he helped a cousin polish statues; barely two years later, he sold his first work. From Europe, it went to the United States, among other places, where he received rave reviews in the national press. A large part of his sculptures is carved from the extremely hard stone type springstone. His oeuvre is characterized by great playfulness and cheerfulness. A beautiful example of this can be found at the cultural center De Kimpel in Bilzen: a sculpture of playing children playing leapfrog.

The access to De Kimpel is literally and figuratively brightened up with this work by 'I AM EELCO', with strong color use and powerful lines, combined with many decorative elements. A beautiful mural in his typical surrealist pop-art style.

Within walking distance of the center of Bilzen lies the cultural and sports center De Kimpel. This center consists of both cultural and sports activities and a recently renovated city library. You can find the swimming pool, the Kattenberg hiking area, a nature park, fishing ponds, a playground, and a mountain bike and cycling route there.

The St. Maurice Church is one of the most distinctive and historically valuable buildings in the center of Bilzen (Limburg, Belgium). The church stands directly behind the town hall on the Markt square and, together with the town hall and the surrounding buildings, forms the historic heart of the city. The church's origins date back to the early Middle Ages: archaeological research shows that the choir rests on foundations dating from the 11th century, indicating that a church building existed on this site from very early times. From the 12th century onward, a Romanesque church developed here, of which only the choir survived when it was replaced by a Gothic structure in the 15th century. In 1636, the Gothic church was severely damaged when it was set on fire by Croatian troops. The only remaining parts were the choir and a few pillars of the nave. In the decades that followed, the church was rebuilt and expanded. Under the direction of architects such as Joseph Dumont and Mathieu Christiaens, the church acquired its current form in the 19th and early 20th centuries: a neo-Gothic hall church, typical of the Romantic revival of Gothic building traditions. A hall church is a church design in which the nave and aisles are more or less the same height, creating an impressive and open interior. St. Maurice's Church is one of the few hall churches in the region built of marlstone on a robust base of rubble and bluestone. The tower, complete in 1667, features striking Baroque elements.

The Secret Army Monument near Bilzen-Hoeselt is a war memorial and resistance memorial commemorating the work and sacrifices of the Belgian resistance movement, the Secret Army, during World War II. This monument is part of the Resistance Trail, a route through the Munsterbos forest and surrounding nature reserves where resistance fighters gathered in 1944, organized themselves, and were arrested or executed by the German occupiers in the days just before liberation. The Secret Army was one of the largest resistance groups in occupied Belgium during World War II. The movement consisted of civilians who went underground to coordinate resistance actions, provide assistance to the Allies, and sabotage operations against the German occupiers. Numerous members were active in the Limburg region, including groups organized around towns such as Bilzen, Genk, and Kortessem. The actual monument is located along the Resistance Trail near Hoelbeek in the Munsterbos area. Resistance fighters used this location as a safe haven, but some of them were arrested or executed around September 1944, just before the region was liberated. The memorial consists of a small chapel built in 1947 shortly after the war and commemorates the 51 members of the Secret Army who died in battles with the occupying forces while in captivity or during skirmishes in the final days of the war. Plaques bearing the names of these fallen resistance fighters are located on the chapel. The chapel and the monument along the Resistance Path are part of the architectural heritage and are officially recognized for their cultural-historical value: they bear witness to the resistance against the occupying forces and to the tragic events of the final year of the war. Every year, usually on the second Sunday of September, commemorations are held in memory of these resistance fighters, with family members, historians, and local visitors gathering to pay their respects. The monument isn't located in the heart of a city, but rather in the natural area around Hoelbeek and Munsterbos, so a visit is often combined with a walk along the Resistance Trail. The trail itself takes you along wooded paths, quiet lanes, and other war memorials, making it a historically and scenically significant route.