Estonia
Sand Origin
Piusa Open Pit
Random Sand Fact
In Estonia, miners created an underground pillared hall out of sand.
For more than 40 years they mined pure quartz sand by hand for glassworks. They removed the sand around them and left pillars standing to hold up the roof. What remained were some 20 kilometres of tunnels with vaults and thick pillars in pale sandstone.
Everything you see down there today is what the miners left behind.
Most of the tunnels are closed because of the risk of collapse, but from a platform in the tallest of the caves, visitors with a guide can look in among the pillars. In winter, thousands of bats sleep further inside.
