Maaseik (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmaːsɛik]; Limburgish: Mezeik) is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg.

Internationally, Maaseik is known as the assumed birthplace of the famous Flemish painters Jan and Hubert van Eyck.

The town of Maaseik is located on the left bank of the Meuse (Dutch: Maas), bordering the Netherlands.

Smaller villages and hamlets include Aldeneik, Heppeneert, Wurfeld, 't Ven, Gremelslo, Berg, Schootsheide, Voorshoven, Waterloos, De Riet and Dorne.

Although most toponyms with the affix -eik refer to a landscape with oaks, it is also possible that it is derived from the German word Ecke, which means 'corner'.

According to tradition, Aldeneik Abbey was established by Adelard, a local Frankish lord, around 700 AD, as a Benedictine nunnery.

Around 950, emperor Otto I gave the restored monastery to the bishop of Liège, who turned it into a religious chapter for (male) canons.

Aldeneik Abbey was abandoned at the beginning of the Eighty Years' War but the chapter continued in Nieuw-Eycke ('new oak'), now Maaseik.

As a typically planned town, the four main streets start at the marketplace and led to the four city gates, none of which has been preserved.

During the religious troubles of the 16th century, Maaseik was a stronghold for Anabaptism and almost broke away from Liège, but prince-bishop Gerard van Groesbeek was able to calm the people and retain the town.

A railroad built in the 19th century connected Maaseik to the provincial capital Hasselt, but fell into disuse and was removed around 1950; it now serves as part of a bicycle network in Belgian Limburg.

Today, Maaseik is mostly a regional centre for the surrounding communities with some small factories and businesses, shops, restaurants, a theater, schools, a court house and a hospital.

Maaseik, although a small town, boasts of many listed houses, predominantly in Mosan Renaissance style.

Most of the houses are built in brick in combination with soft, yellowish Limburg chalk and a much harder, blueish limestone from the Ardennes region, locally called Naamse steen (Namur stone).

Several buildings have been converted into pubs and restaurants and although the tree-lined square is still partly used as a car park, in Summer a number of street terraces give it a lively atmosphere.

These elections have resulted in a takeover from former opposition party Open VLD who formed a coalition with PRO3680 and N-VA, ousting CD&V from the majority for the first time this century.