Sint-Truiden (French Saint-Trond) is the chief town of the Haspengouw (French Hesbaye), the market center of an extensive fruit-growing area (principally cherries), and at the same time an important industrial base with a sugar refinery and various other industries. The cherry blossom and the
harvest are an excuse for lively festivals.
Sint-Truiden developed around an abbey which St Trudo had founded in 657. The town received a charter in the 11th C. and was surrounded by fortifications in 1086. At first the Benedictine abbey came under the jurisdiction of the abbot and bishop of Metz, whose place was taken in the 13th C. by the prince-bishop of Liège. In this period Sint-Truiden developed into an important center of cloth production on the trade routes between Bruges and Cologne. After the town had fallen to the French in 1795 the monastery was suppressed. From 1814 Sint-Truiden belonged to the Netherlands until the founding of the Belgian kingdom.
The Town Hall in Sint-Truiden has a 17th century tower classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well as the buildings of Sint-Agnes. The architecture in Sint-Truiden includes examples of Baroque architecture on the gable of the town hall and the Minderbroederkerk.
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