Lessines is home to Belgium's most famous porphyry quarries. Porphyry exploitation started in the eighteenth century, the rock was used as cobblestone to build roads. Between the two world wars, Lessines still had more than twenty quarries where 5,000 workers were at work. The stones still being quarried today are mainly used as ballast for constructing high-speed railway lines.
Along the Dender River
The location of Lessen along the Dender was ideal for transporting the loose rock to all corners of the country. A ship loader was built along the Dender to load the crushed stone on boats.