Gotland – Kalk Industry

While we were on the Swedish island of Gotland for a week last summer, we saw some evidence of the “kalk” industry, old and new. There is a huge deposit of limestone on the island which has been quarried and used for centuries.

We visited the quaint Bläse Kalkbruksmuseum at the northern tip of Gotland where, from the mid 1800s until the mid 1900s, limestone dug from a nearby quarry was burned in 3 large kilns to make mortar. (There was also a nice cafe where we were happy to partake of some yum-yum.)

After our visit to the museum, we happened to basically drive through a modern lime-processing site, run by Nordkalk since the 1960s. And, apparently, limestone has a zillion different uses in our modern world other than just in cement.

Here are some images shot at the Bläse Kalkbruksmueum and at the modern Nordkalk site in Gotland.

One of the big kilns at the Bläse Kalkbruksmuseum
Train rails ran right into entry of what is now a cafe and restaurant at the Bläse Kalkbruksmuseum
More to see at the Bläse Kalkbruksmuseum
This was an interesting find near the water at the Bläse Kalkbruksmuseum
Another of the kilns at the Bläse Kalkbruksmuseum
What looks like some kind of silo at the Bläse Kalkbruksmuseum
Looking up
A much larger and more modern (ugly) “silo” at the Nordkalk site
Piles of stone being made by these conveyers at the Nordkalk site
Like some sort of mechanized spider with its arms reaching out
Huge piles of white rock at the Nordkalk site

Published by kewtiebird

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I am a photography enthusiast living in Oslo, Norway. My favourite subjects tend to be landscapes and nature - but I enjoy photographing urban scenes, architecture, abstract shapes and street images as well. Welcome!

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