Location: South Limburg, Netherlands
Documentation date: Autumn of 2020
Not long after walking down into the cave system carved symbols, graffitis, charcoal drawings and paintings – some probably new, others several hundred years old – begin to appear on the walls.
At least five metres above my head appear dark marks scattered on the ceiling, remnants of oil torches used by the workers who cut the first layer of limestone out of the mountain a very long time ago. Most of the historical buildings in the region were built with this limestone. The caves were used to hide famous artworks during World War II and provided secret passages into – or out of – the city.
At one point our guide commands us to turn off our torches, resulting the tunnel to fall into complete darkness. You do not want to get stuck in these mines without a light, there would be no way to find the exit.
There do exist well equipped explorers who enjoy to enter old mines and caves without a guide and according to newspaper articles people get caught somewhat frequently entering tunnels belonging to the Pietersberg Cave system on their own, however I would very strongly advise against it.
Not only is the total combined distance of the 8.000 intersecting tunnels at least 60 kilometres, some parts did already collapse and are obviously never visited by guided tours, so nobody would even find you if you got lost there. Also due to the limestone the humidity is very low, so you would not survive very long without sufficient water resources.
You can book tickets for a guided tour either in the Zonneberg Caves or in the North Caves via the Explore Maastricht website, they are offered in Dutch and English. While I only went on the Zonneberg tour myself, I was told that both tours are mostly similar. If you do decide to visit yourself you should remember to wear warm clothes since it is around 10 degrees celsius all year round in the mines.
Also you can go on a hike in the surface mine next to the Pietersberg afterwards and take a look at the former cement factory. Or if you want to explore even more history you can also book a tour for the Fort St. Pieter which is also located on the Pietersberg, just a few hundred metres away from the the entrance to the Zonneberg Caves – a blog post about the Fort will follow soon!
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