Belarus rich in various Attraction and if estates, churches and churches are already familiar somewhere, then natural and industrial sites are gaining their tourism potential. One of those amazing places granite quarry in Mikashevichi, Luninets district.
The history of the career begins in the 70s of the last century. It was then that they began to engage in the extraction of non-metallic building materials. The main enterprise of the city RUPP "Granit" produces all types of crushed stone and is considered one of the largest in Europe.
Deposits of building stone in Mikashevichi (then still a working settlement) were found in 1963 year. The expedition members gave the name to this deposit "Mikashevichi ledge".
The size of the granite quarry is really impressive. It is very difficult to take a photo that could cover the entire site.
The quarry area is constantly changing, the following figures are now on the official website of the enterprise: 2800 meters from west to east and 1800 north to south. Mining is carried out at a depth of about 150 meters, is 20 meters below the level of the Baltic Sea, but over time the figure will only increase. If you look closely, you can see that now the quarry consists of 11 mining ledges.
Interesting fact: the first explosion on the future career occurred 21 1973 October, the and in terms of power it was approximately equal to two tons of explosive. For comparison, those explosions that are carried out today have a capacity of more than 100 tons.
A variety of techniques are involved in the career, but the main one is excavators and huge BelAZ trucks for transportation. From an observation platform or drone, they look quite tiny (this helps to estimate the size of the quarry even better).
You can’t just get into the territory just like that, besides, it’s really dangerous. To avoid problems, it is better to take an excursion from the RUPP "Granit", you can see both the development and the museum, and even ride on a 45-ton BELAZ. Tickets cost from 5 to 20 rubles, there are expensive options for individual excursions.
The quarry is located a few kilometers from city center, at the exit from the M10 highway. Below is a mark with a dot on the observation deck, entrance through checkpoint No. 1.
If you are in these parts, then I advise you to stop by for a walk along Soligorsk and look at huge heaps. On the way there will be another interesting place - an old Jewish cemetery in the village of Lenin.
