Wieliczka Salt Mine

About half an hour outside of Krakow is Wieliczka Salt Mine, a place where human ingenuity combined with nature’s miraculous gifts has given birth to one of the most valuable monuments of material and spiritual culture in Poland. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Wieliczka Salt Mine is the only mining site in the world to have been running continuously since the Middle Ages, creating an astonishing 300 kms underground metropolis.

The mine is a product of work of tens of generations of miners, a monument to the history of Poland and to the Polish nation – a brand, present in Polish consciousness for centuries. The antiquity & the scale of the whole construction are not the only two features that will leave you awe struck.

The salt mine is also a place of worship with the Chapel of the Blessed Kinga, carved entirely from salt, including the chandeliers that hang from the ceiling, being the crown jewel of the “Wieliczka” Salt Mine and the miners’ pride. Several chambers that today serve as dining, conference, business meeting areas, even concerts are at the visitors’ disposal.

You may also watch the creation of salt figures emerge from under the master sculptor’s chisel. You will feel the call of adventure while crossing a salt lake by a ferry. Finally you can even stay overnight if you choose,  you can buy souvenirs carved in salt, encounter characters from legends and wonderful mining ceremonies. In all an experience like no other. More