Krakow - Wieliczka Salt Mine

The Wieliczka Salt Mine  (pronounced 've-LEECH-ka') near Krakow, Poland was built in the 13th century and produced table salt continuously until 2007.  It is one of the world's oldest salt mines.  Fairly impressive in itself, but that is not the reason we added the site as one of our excursions to our tour on day 7.

 

The mine's main features are hundreds of exquisitely carved statues and frescoes plus an entire chapel and chandeliers – completely carved from rock salt by the miners over the past seven centuries!   It is such a unique site that you really must see it to believe it.  Visitors have included Copernicus, Goethe, Chopin and Pope John Paul II.

Along the route are historic and religious statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. Even the crystals ofthe chandeliers are made from rock salt that has been dissolved and reconstituted to achieve a clear, glass-like appearance.  More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists.

The carvings may appear white in the photos, but the actual carved figures are not white.  The rock salt is naturally gray in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline you may expect. 

The mine features an underground lake and new exhibits on the history of salt mining. The largest collection of original tools and mining equipment illustrating the development of mining technology from the Middle Ages to modern times has been preserved here.   It also houses an underground museum and has a number of special-purpose chambers such as a sanatorium for people suffering from asthma and respiratory ailments. 

According to Polish legend and folklore, the mine's discovery in the 13th century was due to Queen Kinga, who was the daughter of king Bela IV of Hungary, and wife of Polish king Boleslaw the Modest.  The story reports that Queen Kinga threw her engagement ring into the Maramures salt mine in Hungary, and the ring was carried by the salt deposits to Wieliczka where it was rediscovered and presented to the Queen.

The Chapel of Saint Kinga is the lowest level that is open to the public, and many of the ancient shafts and caverns that lay below this level are now flooded with ground-water which has created vast underground lakes.

The mine is over 1,000 feet deep and over 190 miles long!  But don’t worry we will not be walking that entire distance or going that deep.  The full touring route is 2.2 miles long.    A wooden staircase with 378 steps provides access to the 210-ft. level of the mine.

Then there is a 1.9 mile walking tour of the mine's corridors, chapels, statues and lake 443 feet underground.  A small industrial elevator provides access to the surface and takes some 30 seconds to reach the top.  The temperature in the Wieliczka mine remains a constant 55 degrees.

This web site features awesome photos of the mine and more information.  This video is from UNESCO and provides a good overview.  This video gives you a look into the salt mine museum and a ride inside the elevator to the top!

A chance viewing one day of this segment from a Rick Steves travel show on Poland is what convinced me that this unusual site will definitely make our tour memorable: Krakow, Poland – Countryside and the Wieliczka Salt Mine.