Wieliczka Salt Mine

Wieliczka Salt Mine *
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Country	Poland
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iv
Reference	32
Region **	Europe
Inscription history
Inscription	1978 (2nd Session)
Endangered	1989–1998
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

The Wieliczka Salt Mine, located in the town of Wieliczka in southern Poland, lies within the Kraków metropolitan area. The mine, built in the 13th century, produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines still in operation. From its beginning and throughout its existence, the Royal mine was run by the Żupy krakowskie Salt Mines, believed to be the world's 14th-oldest company. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding.

The mine's attractions include dozens of statues and an entire chapel that has been carved out of the rock salt by the miners. The oldest sculptures are augmented by the new carvings by actual artists. About 1.2 million people visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine annually.

History

The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 metres (1,073 ft) and is over 300 kilometres (190 mi) long. The rock salt is naturally gray in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. During World War II, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad-hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) touring route (less than 1% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. 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 Wieliczka mine is often referred to as "the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland." In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites. Even the crystals of the chandeliers are made from rock salt that has been dissolved and reconstituted to achieve a clear, glass-like appearance. It also houses a private rehabilitation and wellness complex.

Tourism

Visitors to this site have included Nicolaus Copernicus, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Alexander von Humboldt, Fryderyk Chopin, Dmitri Mendeleyev, Bolesław Prus, Ignacy Paderewski, Robert Baden-Powell, Jacob Bronowski (who filmed segments of The Ascent of Man in the mine), Karol Wojtyła (the later Pope John Paul II), former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and many others. There is a chapel. There is a reception room that is used for private functions such as weddings and celebrations. There is a chamber with walls carved by miners to resemble wood, as in the wooden churches built in earlier centuries.

A wooden staircase with 378 steps provides access to the 64 metres (210 ft) level of the mine. There is a 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) tour of the mine's corridors, chapels, statues and lake, 135 metres (443 ft) underground. An elevator provides access to the surface. The elevator holds 36 people (nine per car) and takes some 30 seconds to reach the surface.

Media

The salt mine helped inspire the Labyrinth scenes in Bolesław Prus' 1895 historical novel, Pharaoh. In 1995, the Preisner's Music, a compilation of film music by the Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner, was recorded by Sinfonia Varsovia in the chapel in the Wieliczka salt mine. The chapel is often referred to as having the best acoustics in Europe. In 2010 it was proposed to UNESCO World Heritage to add Bochnia Salt Mine nearby, to the original inscription.

Photos

Wieliczka Salt Mine
Entrance with headframe	St Barbara carved in rock salt	Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" carved in a wall of rock salt	Old corridor
Salt statue of Pope John Paul II	Old winch in the museum	Bottom of St Kinga's Shaft	Chandelier carved in rock salt at St Kinga's Chapel

Sister caves

• Frasassi Caves (Genga - Marche, Italy)

See also

• Pharaoh ("Inspirations") — explanation of the Wieliczka Salt Mine's inspiration for the historical novel by Bolesław Prus
• Bochnia Salt Mine
• Chełm Chalk Tunnels
• Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, in Zipaquirá, Cundinamarca, Colombia

External references

• Jerzy Grzesiowski, Wieliczka: kopalnia, muzeum, zamek (Wieliczka: the Mine, the Museum, the Castle), 2nd ed., updated and augmented, Warsaw, Sport i Turystyka, 1987, ISBN 83-217-2637-2.
• Christopher Kasparek, "Prus' Pharaoh and the Wieliczka Salt Mine," The Polish Review, 1997, no. 3, pp. 349–55.

External links

• Wieliczka salt mine
• Video tour of mine
• Cracow Salt-Works Museum in Wieliczka (plan of mine)
• Wieliczka Salt Mine near Kraków in Poland
• Wieliczka Salt Mine Tour
• Air Pollution Intrusion into the Wieliczka Salt Mine
• "A Piece of Salt that Weighs 200 Tons" fallen from Wieliczka chamber roof in 1916; Popular Science monthly, Feb 1916, page 179. Scanned by Google Books.