Excursion: Underground mills at Col-des-Roches
About 2km from Le Locle is Col-des-Roches, where the river Bied has forced its way underground through the limestone by carving out a chain of caves on its way to the river Doubs. The formation of the Bied didn't lend itself to the use of waterwheels, so a few enterprising people figured out that they could install waterwheels inside these caves after chiselling out the rock. Not a trivial task, but necessity can be a strong motivator. Construction began in 1652 after the appropriate easements were secured. A long and varied history followed upto its closure in 1966. At its peak, 5 wheels operated in the underground mill. The last thing for which the caves were used is rather shocking: an abbatoir set up on the border to check imported cattle for disease in 1898 used the caves as their dumping site for the carcasses of those animals that had to be destroyed, and for sewage.
In 1973 a group of enthusiasts commenced on a cleaning and restoration program and now the facility is open to the public. We had an excellent guided tour in German, sadly I think there is no English version at this time. For a few more photos, visit my overflow site:
Excursion: Moulins Souterrains
Museum website (in French): Les Moulins
Trivia: Col-des-Roches is at 919 m above sea-level. Villigen is at 367 m. Even several hundred meters underground in the caves we were still higher than we are in Villigen!
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2 comments:
Hello Z! You could have a look to my post on 30th July and see what it is at the end of the string...Have a nice Sunday in your beautiful mountains.
What a fascinating story! Human endeavour sometimes (often) astounds me. The smell in the caves must have been astounding at some times.
I do like the lighting you have captured. Adds an appropriate eeriness.
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