Estonia
Sand Origin
Piusa Open Pit
Local Sand Trivia
Are you searching for a sandy cathedral-like cave? Here’s one!
Sand-covered flours, high vaults, and pillars make the Piusa Caves look like something out of a fairy tale—a mix of a beach, a temple, and a mine.Â
The Estonian caves are technically a mine excavated by hand to collect quartz sand for glassmaking. Miners carefully hollowed out the sandstone for sand for about 50 years before the mining stopped in the 70s.Â
Today, some of the lit underground galleries and corridors are open for visitors. Other parts inhabit the biggest bat colony in East Europe.
