Wieliczka Salt Mine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wieliczka Salt Mine* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| Image:Wieliczka-saltmine-kinga.jpg | |
| State Party | Image:Flag of Poland.svg Poland |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iv |
| Reference | 32 |
| Region† | Europe and North America |
| 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, in the town of Wieliczka, in Poland's Kraków metropolitan area, had until 2007 been in continuous operation, producing table salt, since the 13th century. It was one of the world's oldest operating salt mines (the oldest being at Bochnia, Poland, 20 kilometers from Wieliczka).
Active mining stopped in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding, most likely caused by mining operations. The mine now remains open only for touring.
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The mine reaches down to a depth of 327 meters, and is over 300 km. long.
The Wieliczka salt mine features a 3.5-km. tourist route (less than 1% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes statues of historic and mythic figures, all sculpted by miners out of the rock salt. Even the crystals in the chandeliers are fashioned of salt.
Also featured are beautifully carved chambers, chapels, an underground lake, and exhibits on the history of salt mining. The mine is justly referred to as "the underground salt cathedral of Poland."
About 1.2 million people visit the mine each year.
Over the centuries, visitors to this site have included Nicolaus Copernicus, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Alexander von Humboldt, 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 crowned heads.
During World War II, the salt mine was used by the occupying Germans as housing for war-related production plants.
The awe-inspiring, ancient labyrinthine salt mine helped inspire the Labyrinth scenes in Bolesław Prus' 1895 historical novel, Pharaoh.
In 1978 the Wieliczka salt mine was placed on the original UNESCO roster of World Heritage Sites.
[edit] Photos
Wieliczka.jpg
Chapel of St. Kinga, deep within the Wieliczka salt mine. |
Wieliczka-color.jpg
Bottom of Kunegunda's Shaft. |
Wieliczka-daVinci.jpg
Da Vinci's Last Supper, sculpted into the rock salt. |
Nicolaus Copernicus Salt mine.jpg
Salt statue of Nicolaus Copernicus at Wieliczka. |
[edit] 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.
[edit] See also
- Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá in Zipaquirá, Cundinamarca, Colombia
- Bochnia
- Pharaoh (novel by Bolesław Prus)
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Welcome to The Salt of the Earth
- Wieliczka Salt Mine - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- Wieliczka salt mine
- Video tour of mine
- Ancient salt-works
- Cracow Salt-Works Museum in Wieliczka (plan of mine)
- Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow in Poland
- Air Pollution Intrusion into the Wieliczka Salt Mine
World Heritage Sites in Poland | |
|---|---|
Auschwitz Birkenau. German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945) · Białowieża Forest / Belovezhskaya Pushcha (with Belarus) · Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork · Centennial Hall, Wrocław · Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica · Kraków - Stare Miasto / Cracow's Historic Centre · Kalwaria Zebrzydowska: the Mannerist Architectural and Park Landscape Complex and Pilgrimage Park · Park Muzakowski / Muskauer Park (with Germany) · Medieval Town of Toruń · Historic Centre of Warsaw · Wieliczka Salt Mine · Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland · Old City of Zamość | |
Coordinates: cs:Solný důl Wieliczka de:Salzbergwerk Wieliczka es:Minas_de_sal_de_Wieliczka he:מכרות המלח בווייליצ'קה id:Tambang garam Wieliczka it:Miniera di sale di Wieliczka ja:ヴィエリチカ岩塩坑 nl:Wieliczka-zoutmijn no:Saltgruven Wieliczka pl:Kopalnia soli Wieliczka sv:Saltgruvan i Wieliczka vi:Mỏ muối Wieliczka zh:维利奇卡盐矿
