Wieliczka Salt Mines

Just on the outskirts of the city of Krakow lie the Salt Mines of Wieliczka. This mine, which opened in the thirteenth century, continued in operation until 2007, and is now a major tourist destination. The mine is huge -- with hundreds of miles of passageways that go to depths of nearly 500 feet/135m. Salt was an important trade good in late medieval and early modern Poland. During the reign of Casimir the Great in the 14th century, revenues from salt sales accounted for one third of his treasury. The salt mines of Wieliczka experienced their golden age between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and one could find 2,000 miners working in Wieliczka, producing 30,000 tonnes of salt each year. On our trip into the mine we had a guided tour that lasted close to three hours. You get to see some of the larger caverns within the mine -- including The Chapel of Sw.Kinga, which was carved out during the 19th and 20th centuries. Ever since the Middle Ages, the salt miners have been carving out rooms from the salt, and creating beautiful and elaborate works of art. For any traveller interested in the history of Poland, the Salt Mines of Wieliczka are a place a well-worth visiting.