The rural market town of Tongeren (French Tongres), which is also a local administrative center, lies on the little river Jeker and is surrounded by the fertile fields of the Hesbaye (Hasbengouw). The town has considerable economic importance for the extensive region around it because of the
number and variety of jobs available in many small industrial concerns. The sights of cultural and historical interest of the town mirror its long history and are attractions for the tourist.
Tongeren is proud of its claim to be the oldest town in Belgium. It has its origins in the Roman military camp of Atuatuca which Julius Caesar mentions in the "Gallic War"; the Roman occupation was lifted by Ambiorix, prince of the Eburon in 54 B.C.. Under the Emperor Augustus, Germanic Tongerens settled here and there arose the Roman Civitas Atuatuca Tungrorum which became an important station on the road between Cologne and Bavay; in the second C. A.D. it was provided with a great encircling wall. In the same period it is said that Saint Maturnus conducted a mission here. Tongeren was raised to be a bishopric around 315 but, however, soon this was removed to Maastricht and in the eighth C. to Liège. As a consequence the town became the property of the prince-bishop. Towards the end of the fourth C. the Salian Franks had destroyed Tongeren; the removal of the bishop's see brought a further decline, so that in the Middle Ages the town had a more modest position than in Roman times and this is clearly shown by smaller encircling fortifications. From now on Tongeren shared the fate of the estates of the prince-bishops and in 1677 was once again bombarded by the troops of Louis XIV. Industrialization began about 1830 and, together with its function as a market and administrative center for the surrounding district of rural Hesbaye, helped Tongeren to its present importance.
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