The Basilica of Our Lady is the main Catholic place of worship in Tongeren, and it was the cathedral of the suppressed diocese of Tongeren. Excavations found wooden houses from the first century, a construction area from the fourth century, and a Merovingian church that predates a ninth-century Carolingian house of prayer.
Construction of the present choir began in 1240, and the nave, transept and side chapels were added between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. The church is Gothic, in the local interpretation of Brabantine Gothic. The Gothic tower, 64 meters high, was built between 1442 and 1541 and replaced a Romanesque bell tower.
Inside is the image of Our Lady of Tongeren from 1475. The treasury holds one of the richest collections of Catholic religious art in Belgium. The church became a basilica in 1931, and its belfry is part of a UNESCO site listed in 1999.
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