Limestone Quarry

Here’s one we’ve been thinking of doing for a long, long time now. Under the Belgian/Dutch border lie hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of underground passageways, left behind by old limestone miners (mined during the middle-ages). It’s an interesting place to visit, and we had seen some unbelievable pictures come out of that quarry, but… (yes, there’s always a but) Going into one of the biggest underground mazes of Europe where every corridor looks alike and where you have no cellphone reception and no chance to be found… That’s not something I was going to risk for a fun day out and some nice pictures. So we went looking for somebody who was familiar with “the maze” and who was willing to guide us around. And we did found somebody… Quite quickly too I must say. Apparantly, there’s another hobby, somewhat like ours, that’s all about exploring those old quarries! And not only did we get a tour, the kind man even made us some hotdogs and soup down there!

The quarries themselves were in one word breathtaking. The vastitude of the corridors was unbelievable. The light playing along the walls, the absolute silence, a bat here and there,… It was not like any other location we’d ever visit. Another interesting detail was the “graffiti” we found down there. Most locatrions we visit are “enriched” with smudges of spraypaint they call “art”. This location was no different, but here, the drawings were made with charcoal and sometimes over 1000 years old!!! There were even ancient “tags” made by guides that used to guide people from one side of the quarry on the Belgian side to the other side on the Dutch side.

All in all a wonderful day out. We learned a thing or two, and got to visit yet another amazing location.

Special thanks to Mipjes, our guide.