Let’s have fun and read the title again. It’s easy when you remember the W sounds like a V. I will write it out phonetically.

Vaht? Vhair? Veal-EETSH-kah!

Welcome to Wieliczka Salt Mine

Originally water collected from local springs of salty brine was boiled to evaporation in order to produce salt.

In the 11th and 12th centuries the springs were receding so wells were dug in search of the salty water.

In the 13th century, while one of the saline wells was being dug, the first lumps of rock salt were found. The discovery of the valuable raw material made it possible to obtain salt by mining. The first shaft leading underground was struck as early as the second half of the 13th century.

The salt mines were worked continuously from the 13th century until the late 20th century, constituting one of the earliest and most important European industrial operations.

Prior to industrialisation, it was extremely expensive and labour-intensive to harvest mass quantities of salt necessary for food preservation and seasoning. This made salt an extremely valuable commodity.

Entire economies were based on salt production and trade, and Poland’s medieval capital, Krakow was fortunate to be close to some of the richest salt deposits in the world.

Casimir III is the only Polish king who was given the moniker Great by his descendants. This was not a coincidence! It is said about him that he found a Poland made of wood and left it made of stone. Rarer mention is made of the fact that he could not have done this if it had not been for the revenue from the salt extraction, which then constituted as much as 1/3 of the royal treasury’s income. The high profits from salt mining enabled him, among other things, to found the Krakow Academy – the first university in Poland.

During that time, many transactions were paid using salt and work, which is why nowadays, “salary” is used to describe wages. (The Latin word for salt is sal.”)

The air inside the Wieliczka salt mine is free from bacteria, viruses and pollutants. Our guide told us that horses living in the mine lived longer than their contemporaries working above ground.

Several chambers had been carved in the 1600s. The tallest chamber is over a 118 feet high. Some made us think of The Mines of Moria.

The conditions in the mines weren’t the best so the miners created chapels in which to pray for God’s protection at the start of a shift and thanking Him for it at the end of a shift.

It took over thirty years for three men to complete and artistically decorate the chapel removing about 20,000 tons of salt. The stairway is carved of salt, the salt floor is carved to look like ceramic “tiles” and the crystal chandeliers are made with salt “crystals.”

In 1996 a decision was made to end industrial salt production in Wieliczka.

Cessation of production does not mean that miners no longer work underground. On the contrary! Every day, several hundred miners make sure that the Mine is a safe place and that it survives in the best possible condition for future generations. Miners protect the historic areas of the Mine, backfill in the so-called post-mining voids in its non-historical parts, as well as manage fresh water leaks. New attractions for tourists are also constantly being prepared – historic chambers, corridors and shafts are being renovated.

https://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/individual-tourist/about-the-mine/history-of-the-mine

How To Visit?

We visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine webpage. They offered two tours: The Tourist Route and The Miners’ Route. We opted for The Tourist Route and purchased our tickets a few days prior. Tour times do sell out. The tickets were emailed.

The webpage included information about public transportation. We went to the Krakow train station a few days prior to purchase roundtrip train tickets to Wieliczka and check the schedule, but tickets can be purchased on the train as well.

It was a short 22 minute journey from Krakow Głowny to Wieliczka Rynek Kopalnia.

We arrived plenty early and there was a place to sit and have a snack while waiting. About 15 minutes before our scheduled tour we found the line for the English tour and presented our digital tickets.

Descending 800 steps to the third level or 440 feet below ground we found ourselves in a world with a constant temperature of 59°. The tour guide led us through a bit over 2 miles of walking through ancient miner tunnels and chambers.

Thankfully, the tour ends with a return to the surface via elevator.

An overnight stay at the “Wieliczka” Salt Mine Health Resort, 135 meters underground, is an opportunity to combine care for your health with relaxation. Clean air, saturated with minerals, is conducive to the improvement of well-being and mental and physical relaxation.

https://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/health-resort

Link to The List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Our time in Poland is coming to an end. As we wind down our time in a place, we plan final expenditures carefully in order to not end up with a leftover stash of Złoty (PLN) – or worse, need another ATM withdrawal. I have a hankering to have a final plate of pierogi before we go.

Saturday we are scheduled to go to the Aushwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and on Monday we have an early morning Uber reservation to take us to the airport for a flight to a new-to-us country.

Coming soon! Cost of Travel: Poland where we share all our expenses for food, transportation, entertainment and accommodations.