‘Poudingue de Malmédy’, a unique geological formation

‘Poudingue’ is indeed related to pudding, specifically bread pudding. The rock here is named after it because of the numerous pebbles embedded within the stone, resembling raisins in bread pudding dough.

The Puddingstone is a sedimentary rock. When we think of sedimentary, we immediately assume that the rocks were deposited in a sea, but the poudingue of Malmedy is unique and formed under continental conditions, presumably in the Permian period, about 295 - 250 million years ago. The massif extends over a length of 22 km and a width of 2.6 km. The soil formed on this rock is fertile, which is probably the reason a monastery could be established here. However, the resistance of the poudingue to acidic water is low, so within the massif, caves and caverns form due to leaching. Near the cathedral, there is a large cave where hundreds of residents sought shelter during the bombings of December 1944.

Jan Rymenams