Mønsted Limestone Caves
The world’s largest limestone mine..In Mønsted Limestone Caves there are more than 60 kilometres of underground paths. Some are as large as cathedrals and others are so narrow that a grown man cannot walk through them upright...From late medieval times until the 1820´s no big changes took place in the caves. From a hole formed like a shaft you gained access to the limestone. A ”hewer” loosened the limestone and the ”carriers” transported the stone to the field above.
The ”hewer” used the loosened limestone as a platform and so the tunnel often reached a height of several meters. Only big limestones were removed. Limestone debris and flints were left as a growing heap on the floor of the tunnel. As time passed, the carriers had to stoop in a narrow tunnel surrounded by heaps of flints.
Mønsted Limestone Caves
The world’s largest limestone mine..In Mønsted Limestone Caves there are more than 60 kilometres of underground paths. Some are as large as cathedrals and others are so narrow that a grown man cannot walk through them upright...From late medieval times until the 1820´s no big changes took place in the caves. From a hole formed like a shaft you gained access to the limestone. A ”hewer” loosened the limestone and the ”carriers” transported the stone to the field above.
The ”hewer” used the loosened limestone as a platform and so the tunnel often reached a height of several meters. Only big limestones were removed. Limestone debris and flints were left as a growing heap on the floor of the tunnel. As time passed, the carriers had to stoop in a narrow tunnel surrounded by heaps of flints.