Tower of Eben-Ezer

Tower of Eben-Ezer gingercinnamon

Mark Ahsmann (cc by-sa 3.0)

gingercinnamon (Atlas Obscura User)

Here, Taurus the bull, one of the four cherubs atop the turrets, looks northwest towards the Jeker Valley of the Netherlands. William Blake. 2010 Photography. (Atlas Obscura user)

The front of the tower Crapai (cc by-sa 3.0)

bigvolts (Atlas Obscura User)

"Le Fusil Brisé." Built in the aftermath of the second World War, Garcet's Tour d'Eben-Ezer integrates his pacifism into his fascination with biblical imagery. William Blake. 2010 Photography. (Atlas Obscura user)

Situated at the intersection of Wallonia, Flanders, and the southern tip of Limburg, the top of Garcet's tower offers sweeping views of the nearby Jeker Valley, and the quarries from which his magnum opus was built. William Blake. 2010 Photography. (Atlas Obscura user)

gingercinnamon (Atlas Obscura User)

Art in the sculpture garden dorobuettgen (Atlas Obscura User)

The end of the staircase at the top of the tower dorobuettgen (Atlas Obscura User)

bigvolts (Atlas Obscura User)

The Tower of Eben-Ezer is a self-built castle constructed in the 1960s by a single man in the isolated Jeker valley of Belgium. The builder, Robert Garcet, was fascinated with the Bible, numerology, and ancient civilizations.

The entire seven-level tower is built of flint, and according to Garcet, was designed using ancient mystical measurements. On the top of the tower are four giant biblical animals, and the interior is full of Garcet’s biblical, archaeological, paleontological, and geological art.

Even more curious is that although the tower only looks ancient, it sits on top of a vast network of truly ancient tunnels. Garcet claims to have discovered over a hundred “new” fossilized creatures and a 70 million-year-old village in the labyrinth of tunnels under the tower! Unfortunately, the village was destroyed by a mining explosion before it could be studied.

A new educational space called the Le Musée du Silex (Museum of Flint) takes the visitor on a tour of the history and use of the flint stone. Individual admission allows entrance to several levels of the tower and gardens, and a xeroxed informational guide, available in French, Dutch, and English.