Zonneberg quarry

This limestone quarry, the largest of Mount St. Peter, has a rich history. Of all the quarries, you can see the most of the various underground activities that took place here.
Zonneberg quarry was created in the Middle Ages by the extraction of marl. The oldest wall writing dates from 1551. During the carving of the blocks of limestone, an extensive underground system of corridors was created.
From the soft limestone, houses, farmhouses and churches were built. Around 1900, tourism started and holidaymakers and interested parties followed guided tours in the quarries.
To make the experience more interesting, artists were asked to make charcoal drawings against the marl walls in the quarries. Quarry Zonneberg competed with another quarry for the most beautiful art.
This even created a museum, Museum Zonneberg. Here you can admire the skeleton of a seven-meter-long Mosasaurus. Also very impressive is the air raid shelter from the Second World War.
For 40,000 Maastricht residents, this corridor system would form a safe haven if Maastricht became a front city. Parts of the corridor system were reserved for the different districts in the city.
During the war, all kinds of underground spaces were built, such as baking ovens to bake bread (with a 30-meter-long chimney), pump rooms for water supply, chapels for praying, a hospital and sanitary facilities. A hidden past...
In Zonneberg Quarry is the Cave Night Watch. This is a reproduction of the famous Night Watch, in full size and made with charcoal by Jules Sondeijker around 1900.
No one could have known then that forty years later the original would be about 300 meters from this reproduction! Nearby is the Art Bunker of the Sint-Pietersberg.
During the Second World War, some of the greatest national art treasures were hidden here, including Rembrandt's original Night Watch.

Tourist Board South Limburg (Visit Zuid-Limburg)