Salt Mines

So, Sunday morning rolled around, I demanded coffee in bed, as befits any mum on Mother's Day, and then got up and packed up the apartment to head for home. On our way, we decided to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mines.

Now, I am going to say right up front that this is an amazing, albeit rather expensive tourist sort of adventure (I think it was around $50US for the four of us). And, as we discovered a bit too late to do anything about it, it is a three hour tour.  Now, this would not have been an issue if we had shown up at 9:00, or at 13:00. But, we decided to descend into the Salt Mines at 11:00. Without having fed the children lunch. Do you require me to spell this out for you? Our lack of planning will bite us in the butt later.

So, the basics: The Wieliczka Salt Mine, located in the town of Wieliczka in southern Poland, lies within the Kraków Metropolitan area. The mine continuously produced table salt from the 13th century until 2007 as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines. It is believed to be the world's 13th oldest company still in operation. Does that not blow you away?

Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding, but the Salt Mines are apparently among the largest tourist draws in Poland: 1.2 million people annually.

The mine is as deep as 330 meters and has over 300km of tunnels. Which is about the driving distance from Prague to Vienna. Or a little shy of New York to DC, if that is more familiar to you. The touring route is about 3 and a half kilometers and takes you down, down, down to 130 meters below the surface. You do walk all that way down, starting with a set of stairs that went on just about forever (if you were Hope and already beginning to muse aloud about lunch), or 378 steps (if you were Tom and counting them). Fortunately, there is a lift back up again at the end of the tour. Fortunately, or I can promise you Hope would have taken up residence and become the Littlest Salt Miner, rather than clamber back up to the surface. 

 

There is a history of miners carving statues out of the salt, although, given that they are salt, they don't last forever. Some of the oldest ones remaining were carved by miners, although more recent figures have been created by contemporary artists. This tableaux represents the original story of the mine. Apparently, the Hungarian princess Kinga was about to be married to the King of Krakow. As a gift for her future husband, she asked for a salt mine, since salt was scarce in Poland. Her father provided a salt mine. She threw her ring in one of her father's salt mines before leaving for Poland. On arriving in Poland, she asked the people to dig a deep pit. On digging, the people found salt and wrapped around a salt crystal was the princess's ring. 

Interesting story, and really fascinating to see the carvings.

As we wound our way down through the mine, we were shown how the salt was mined and given descriptions of life for the miner. Below is a tableaux that described the life of the mine horses. Unpleasant, in a word. They went down, and they never went back to the surface again.

We passed through prayer chapels, an underground cathedral (pictured below), an underground lake (complete with light and music show that was quite beautiful), and exhibits on the history of salt mining. 

The Last Supper: in salt

The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as "the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland." It also houses a private rehabilitation and wellness complex, as apparently the salty/mineral-ly water is deemed healthful.

The salt crystal chandeliers were fascinating. They are made from rock salt that has been dissolved and reconstituted to achieve a clear, glass-like appearance. The rock salt is naturally gray in various shades, so that the statue carvings resemble unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors expect. 

It's all salt!

And, in fact, it is all salt. All around you! The guide made the tragic error in the beginning of the tour of telling people that if they licked the walls, they would taste salt. The children were hungry. And salt was all there was. 

I know. Disgusting. But do you remember when you were 6 and 8? They thought it was pretty cool. They licked their way through the entire tour. I just averted my eyes.

Hope melted down around the two hour mark; generally, they are pretty good and do try to behave, but the poor thing was genuinely hungry. The good news was that we ended up the in underground restaurant, so we got them some water (!!) and a few snacks to bolster them for the ride to the surface.

With which, we headed to the car, snacked on our usual ham, cheese and bread for the gluten-tolerant, and headed for home.

Tomorrow: Changes

 

Comments

[Monica]

Tom and Hope is learning from experience that food is always the first priority while un-planning for traveling.

[Debbie Hanson]

LOVE the chandeliers....wall licking, not so much. ;)

[Nofootnotes.wordpress.com]

I've just got back from Krakow and went to Wieliczka - it's an amazing place, especially the St. Kinga Chapel! I love your photo story.