The Salt Mine Wieliczka is the oldest salt enterprise on Polish land dating back to the Middle Ages. For centuries it was the source of the country’s wealth and the material foundation of its culture. Today it is the most popular Polish tourist attraction.
Several hundreds of years of rock salt exploitation have shaped the spatial arrangement of its excavated structure. Lying on nine levels, concealed under the town, the mine reaches down to the depth of 327 metres. Subterranean Wieliczka consists of nearly 300 kilometres of corridors and almost 3,000 chambers. The tourist route accessible to visitors includes a 3.5-kilometres section located from 64 to 135 metres below ground level.
Magnificent chapels, captivating underground lakes, original tools and equipment, traces of mining works allow us to understand the human struggle against the elements, their work, their passion and their beliefs. The Wieliczka miners have left behind many salt carvings and murals. After sightseeing, tourists can rest in the chamber complex 125 metres underground where they can find souvenir shops, a restaurant, and a post office.
Various types of social events are organised in the undergrounds of the Wieliczka Salt Mine such as conferences, banquets, weddings, the New Years Eve Ball, concerts, sport performances. Our guests are often accompanied by legendary characters of the mine: the Treasurer, Princess Kinga, the miner’s band plays concerts and exhibitions of salt carvings take place.
Staying underground is particularly beneficial for people with upper respiratory tract problems and allergies. These ailments can be treated at the Underground Rehabilitation and Treatment Centre situated in the Lake Wessel Chamber.
In 1976 the Wieliczka Salt Mine was entered in the National Monuments Registry. Two years later, in 1978, the mine was inscribed in UNESCO’s First World List of Cultural and Natural Heritage, and in 1994 it was acknowledged as the National History Monument by the president of Poland.
At present, the underground tourist route is visited annually by over 1,000,000 tourists.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR VISITORS
The best means of transport is a train from the main railway station platform 1 (about 300 m from The PIANO Guest House). It’s best to take the train at 9.06 AM, trains depart every hour. Tickets can be purchased both at the station ticket office or directly from the driver. Wieliczka – the town where the Salt Mine is located – is about 15 km away from the center of Krakow. Journey lasts 15-20 minutes. The distance between the terminal train stop and the mine is about 400 meters.
Source: The Salt Mine “Wieliczka”
for more information visit www.kopalnia.pl