Discover Thommen: Church Art, Nature and History

Thommen combines impressive church art, a diverse protected landscape and traces from several eras. Those looking for a holiday apartment in Thommen can therefore discover the village from different perspectives: as a destination for history enthusiasts, as a starting point for exploring special habitats and as a place with distinctive evidence of the region's past.

Church, Local History and Historical Traces

Built on a hill, the listed Saint Remaclus Church dominates the village skyline. For visitors interested in religious art and architecture, it is a particularly worthwhile destination. The East Belgium Cultural Heritage Portal also lists the Church of Saint Remaclus as a destination on a virtual tour of historic churches. This means the significance of the building can also be discovered from a digital perspective.

Thommen's history goes back a long way. The village, also known as Tumbas, is mentioned in two documents from Prüm Abbey dating from 816 and 846. Nearby, at the foot of the hill below the mill, at a place called Schlossgarten, there was a Frankish villa or palace. Those interested in even older traces can find Celtic burial mounds from the Iron Age, dating to around 500 BC, near Solheide. These various testimonies do not make the past a single, closed chapter; instead, they invite visitors to consider the village's development across several periods.

There is also a historic landmark at the Oudler–Thommen crossroads: a processional cross, also known as the “Reuland Cross”. Another historical link is the important Roman road from Ivoix, also called Epoissus, towards Cologne, which ran through Thommen and St. Vith. For travel planning, this means that a stay can be geared either towards individual cultural destinations or towards the chronological diversity of the region's history.

Nature Reserve and Thommer Pond

The Thommen nature reserve is also part of the village's character. It is partly included in the “Vallée de l'Ulf” Natura 2000 site and in an area of great biological interest. The habitats are diverse and include wet meadows, acidic fens, floodplain tall-herb communities, submontane and montane hay meadows, as well as wet woodland.

The Thommer Pond is a focal point in its own right. It was created as a mill pond for the nearby Thommer Mill, lies within a Natura 2000 protected area and has a high level of biological diversity. Those who value a trip combining nature and cultural themes when choosing accommodation can consciously bring these two aspects together in their planning, without limiting their stay to just one period or experience.

Important Planning Point

Access to the Thommen nature reserve requires prior permission from the administrator. This information should be taken into account when preparing for a stay. From a planning perspective, a holiday apartment or holiday home in Thommen is particularly appealing because it allows visitors to make the village itself the focus and to give appropriate weight to their preferred themes—church architecture, historical evidence or protected habitats. The accommodation that best suits these plans depends on individual ideas about the trip and daily schedule; this does not imply any specific amenities or availability.

Compare Other Destinations

If you would like to compare other destinations for your trip planning in addition to Thommen, you can also view Lierneux, Stavelot, Chaudfontaine, Burdinne, Kelmis, Fléron, Lontzen and Lincent. Thommen is particularly suitable for travellers who want to combine natural landscapes, sacred architecture and a far-reaching history in a single stay.

For the higher-level travel overview: Liège.