A Morning at the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland

During my April visit to Poland, I visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow. The salt mine is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and visits to the mine are through guided tour only. Salt was produced here since Neolithic times, but the mines themselves date from the 13th century and were used to mine salt until 1996. The guided tours only cover a very small portion of the mines, roughly 2 miles, but there are over 280 miles of passageways in total. There are small chapels built into the salt mine rock, carved figures, and an underground lake. 

The tour was very fast-paced without much time to look. We did stop and were quickly told some of the facts as we went. Some of the mining equipment is on display in the mines.

The most impressive room with the chandeliers was later on in the visit, and there are religious carvings in the walls and a chapel. All of these items were carved by the miners.

There is also a statue of the Pope.

All of the tour groups arrived before the group I was on, and the place was packed. Thousands must visit the mines daily.

Lighting was also used in the carvings.

There was also a carved copy of  "The Lord's Supper" painting.

There are underground lakes as well and other chambers with signs to detail the names and the dates in which the area was mined.

The salt itself does not really look much like salt. It's grey in colour. Visitors were told that they could lick the walls if they wanted because the salt is in the walls. I did not want to do this.

We were told a story about the king and the opening of the mines.

We were shown how the miners used to light the mines in the past.

We walked through so many passageways.

One of the tallest shafts is held up with a wooden frame.

We watched a small light show around the lake.

At the bottom of the tallest shaft is a pool of water with one of the tunnels submerged.

There are a total of four chapels carved into the rock.

The salt mines were interesting, especially the large carved chapels. I felt the tour was too rushed and crowded overall, but it is a top attraction.