It consists of the following districts: Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, Soignies and Thieusies.

Soignies is also well known for its blue limestone (from the Carrières du Hainaut) and its glass industry (Durobor).

The Frankish merchant Samo, who founded an empire in Central Europe, may have come from Soignies (Latin: pagus Senonagus).

[2] In the 670s, Madelgaire, a wealthy former governor under King Dagobert I, and his wife Waltrude decided to separate and devote themselves to a religious life.

The existence of the abbey of Soignies is mentioned for the first time in the Treaty of Meersen, dated August 8, 870, as one of King Charles the Bald's possessions.

The settlement grew to urban proportions at around the same time, coinciding with the development of the textile industry and the building of a defensive wall.