Mazy

The black marble of Mazy is an incomparable mineral wealth.

In the distant era of the primary times, about 350 million years ago, a tropical sea largely washed over our regions. In this life-favorable environment, many organisms, animals, and plants developed, some of which left traces in the form of fossils. The sediments that were deposited on these seabeds have been transformed over time into solid and compact rocks. Some of them can be cut and shaped for use in construction and decoration. They can receive various surface finishes. Some stones, notably limestone, can get a beautiful glossy polish that brightens their colors. Among this varied production, alongside the more or less colorful red, pink, and gray marbles, often veined, the black marbles stood out for their impeccable purity, the depth of their color, and the velvety softness, reflective as a mirror. They were highly valued for all burial applications (mausoleums, graves, or simple grave markers). But black marble is also widely used for all sorts of decorative applications, in both civil and religious buildings. They are often mixed with other colors, for example in contrasting checkerboards for tiled floors. All these luxury products were exported throughout Europe, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, and across the seas and oceans. The famous “Belgian Black” has always been a universally recognized material in the world of marble.

Among the main places where black marble was exploited: Dinant, Namur on the Meuse, Fournal on the Scheldt, Theux in the Liège region, Basècies in Hainaut, and this region of Mazy on both sides of another of Orneau. The numerous deposits in the region extend for about ten kilometers, from Saint-Martin in the west to Rhisnes, or even Émines, in the east, through Bossière and Golzinne. The trace of these deposits is easy to find in the landscape, through the old quarries that accentuate this strip of land. They were flanked by spoil heaps of sterile material, most of which have disappeared.

Pascal Brackman