Wieliczka Solny Skarb

Wieliczka Salt Mine - Muzeum Zup Krakowskich - Cracow Salt-Works Museum

Useful Information

Location:	In Wieliczka, 14km south-east of Cracow.
Open:	APR to OCT daily 7:30-19:30. NOV to MAR daily 8-17. Closed 01-JAN, Easter Sunday, 01-NOV, 24-DEC, 25-DEC, 31-DEC. Guided Tours: : continually. : JUN daily 9:00, 10:00, 11:30, 12:30, 13:45, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00. JUL to AUG daily 8:30 to 18:00 every half hour. SEP daily 9:00, 10:00, 11:30, 12:30, 13:45, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00. OCT to MAY daily 10:00, 11:00, 11:30, 12:30, 13:45, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00. : JUL to SEP daily 10:45, 14:15, 16:00. OCT to JUN daily 10:45, 16:00. : JUL to AUG daily 10:15, 12:00, 15:15. : JUL daily 13:00. AUG daily 9:45, 13:00, 15:45. : JAN daily 11:15. JUL to AUG daily 11:15, 16:15. : AUG daily 11:20. [2006]
Fee:	JAN to FEB: Adults PLN 40, Children (4-15) PLN 24, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 24, Seniors PLN 24. Groups (-35): Adults PLN 28, Children (4-15) PLN 16, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 16, Seniors PLN 16, Tour guide PLN 140. Foreign Languages: Adults PLN 48, Children (4-15) PLN 40, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 40, Seniors PLN 40. Groups (-35): Adults PLN 28, Children (4-15) PLN 16, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 16, Seniors PLN 16, Tour guide PLN 212. MAR to JUN: Adults PLN 44, Children (4-15) PLN 30, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 30, Seniors PLN 30. Groups (-35): Adults PLN 35, Children (4-15) PLN 20, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 20, Seniors PLN 20, Tour guide PLN 175. Foreign Languages: Adults PLN 60, Children (4-15) PLN 50, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 50, Seniors PLN 50. Groups (-35): Adults PLN 35, Children (4-15) PLN 20, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 20, Seniors PLN 20, Tour guide PLN 265. JUL to AUG: Adults PLN 46, Children (4-15) PLN 24, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 24, Seniors PLN 24. Groups (-35): Adults PLN 38, Children (4-15) PLN 22, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 22, Seniors PLN 22, Tour guide PLN 175. Foreign Languages: Adults PLN 65, Children (4-15) PLN 55, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 55, Seniors PLN 55. Groups (-35): Adults PLN 38, Children (4-15) PLN 22, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 22, Seniors PLN 22, Tour guide PLN 265. SEP to OCT: Adults PLN 44, Children (4-15) PLN 30, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 30, Seniors PLN 30. Groups (-35): Adults PLN 35, Children (4-15) PLN 20, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 20, Seniors PLN 20, Tour guide PLN 175. Foreign Languages: Adults PLN 60, Children (4-15) PLN 50, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 50, Seniors PLN 50. Groups (-35): Adults PLN 35, Children (4-15) PLN 20, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 20, Seniors PLN 20, Tour guide PLN 265. NOV to DEC: Adults PLN 40, Children (4-15) PLN 24, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 24, Seniors PLN 24. Groups (-35): Adults PLN 28, Children (4-15) PLN 16, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 16, Seniors PLN 16, Tour guide PLN 140. Foreign Languages: Adults PLN 48, Children (4-15) PLN 40, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 40, Seniors PLN 40. Groups (-35): Adults PLN 28, Children (4-15) PLN 16, Children (0-3) free, Students PLN 16, Seniors PLN 16, Tour guide PLN 212. Foto Permit PLN 10. Groups pay reduced fees but have to pay for the guide additionally. [2006]
Classification:	Salt Mine
Light:	electric.
Dimension:	7.5 million m², L=320,000m, D=315m, T=14°C.
Guided tours:	D=150min, L=3,500m, D=135m, V=1.000.000/a[2010].
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	Janusz Podlecki (2001): Wieliczka - A Royal Salt Mine, Publishing House Karpaty, ISBN-10: 8388553054, ISBN-13: 978-8388553059, Hardcover, Language: English.  at Amazon.com Janusz Podlecki (2004): Wieliczka Historic Salt Mine, Karpaty Publishing House, ISBN-10: 8388553410, ISBN-13: 978-8388553417, Hardcover  at Amazon.com
Address:	Kopalnia Soli "Wieliczka" Trasa Turytyczna sp. z o.o., ul. Danilowicza 10, 32-020 Wieliczka, Tel. +48-12-2787302, Tel. +48-12-2787366, Fax: +48-12-2787333. E-mail: Cracow Salt-Works Museum, ul Zamkowa 8, 32-020 Wieliczka, Tel: +48-12-4221947, +48-12-2783266, Fax: +48-12-2783028 E-mail:
Last update:	$Date: 2011/12/13 09:05:11 $

History

Description

The Royal salt mine Wieliczka is like a vast underground city. It is the oldest working mine which is open for tourists in Europe. Salt was mined here as long as 700 years ago and today the mine consists of nine levels going down to a depth of 327m. There are 2,040 chambers connected by 200km of passages.

The water of the springs in this area always contained salt, which was used at least for 5,000 years. The water was cooked on fire until the whole water was gone and the salt remained in the pot. But in the 13th century the mining for salt started. How this happened is told in an old legend about princess Kinga, who was later beatified and is the patron Saint of the miners around Krakow.

The Hungarian princess Kinga was to marry the sovereign of Krakow. She wanted to bring a wealthy gift for her fiancé. As the people in Poland had everything except salt, she asked her father for a salt mine as adowry, which he provided. She threw one of her rings into a salt mine of her father and travelled to Poland. Near Krakow, in Wieliczka she told the people to dig a deep pit. The miners found salt, and enclosed in the first piece of salt they mined was the ring of Kinga.

The mine contains, beneath the mine itself, numerous churches, chapels, and rooms for leisure activities. Near the entrance is the chapel of Saint Antonius located. The whole room was covered with sculptures made of salt. But as the chapel is close to the entrance, the moist of the air destroyed the figures. Today they look like modern art, or maybe prehistoric sculptures.

Other churches, like the Cathedral, are well preserved. Here even the chandeliers are made of salt. The walls are covered with sculpureds of saints and scenes from the bible. Sometimes the room is used for weddings.

In 1978 the mine was included in the First World List of Cultural and Natural Heritage by UNESCO and in 1994 by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Poland, it was recognised as a Monument of History of the Polish Nation.

In 1992 there was an inundation of water from some old workings which threatened not only an important part of the tourist route containing many statues and carvings, but also endangered the town itself. A succesful cleanup operation was carried out and the mine was once again reopened to the public.

See also

• Subterranean World Heritage List
• Speleotherapy
• Wieliczka Salt Mine official site. ( )
• Wieliczka Salt Mine, official site (same site as above, but other domain). ( )
• Cracow Salt-Works Museum ( )
• Salt Mine "Wieliczka" Poland, some images.
• Wieliczka Salt Mine, Poland, some more images.
• Wieliczka Salt Mine, The World Heritage List
• Das Salzbergwerk von Wieliczka () The website of a German documentary IV series showing UNESCO
• Wieliczka Salt works museum at  Souterrains
• The Salt Mines of Wieliczka, 1850, Modern History Sourcebook by Bayard Taylor. This excerpt is an description of the mine from 1850, which is from Eva March Tappan, ed. (1914): The World's Story: A History of the World in Story, Song and Art, Vol. VI: Russia, Austria-Hungary, The Balkan States, and Turkey. Houghton Mifflin, Boston. pp. 370-377.
• Air Resources Laboratory and the Wieliczka Salt Mine A description how the fragile ice sculptures were saved from destruction by humidity.
• A Salty Heritage: Licking the problem of Poland's melting treasures by Janet Raloff. A ScienceNewsOnline article about the destruction of the salt sculptures by humidity.
• Air Pollutant Intrusion into the Wieliczka Salt Mine an interesting page by Lynn Garry Salmon, who has the goal "...to visit all of the sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List sometime in my life."
• Underground in Poland by Paul W. Sowan. A short article mentioning a tourist mine and a Subterranea, in the middle of the page.

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