Wieliczka Salt Mine

The Wieliczka Salt Mine is one of the oldest salt mines in the world, and is also known as the subway salt cathedral. What you will discover there is a work of art, so it is no wonder that it has already been considered a World Heritage Site. 

The Wieliczka Salt Mine is located near kraków in Poland.

The visit to the Salt Mine consists of a 3-hour guided tour. In total, you will have to descend approximately 800 steps along it, and as soon as you enter, you will encounter the first 400 steps. Although it is quite an intense welcome, you will be grateful that they are at the beginning when the energy is still high! It will also allow you to warm up; keep in mind that, due to the depth, temperatures drop to 14º, so take some warm clothes and appropriate footwear.

A few meters away, a set of salt statues in the Janowice chamber depict the legend of St. Kinga, queen and patron saint of the mine. 

The reliefs on the walls, the statues and the peculiarity of the lamps will leave you speechless.

They told us its legend and said that the Wieliczka salt mine was discovered by Cunegunda, the wife of the Cracovian ruler Boleslaus V the Chaste. It is said that before the wedding, when Cunegunda was still in her native Hungary, she received a salt mine as a dowry. The princess wanted to donate the salt to her Polish subjects, but she did not know how to transfer the mine from Hungary to Poland.... So she decided to throw her engagement ring into one of the mine shafts. When he arrived in Poland, he had his servants dig another shaft, in the vicinity of Krakow. It turned out that in the first salt floe discovered was hidden... the ring!

And from a queen we pass to King Casimir the Great, who during the Middle Ages was in charge of the management of this interesting place and therefore also has a room for him. 

In the chamber called Warszawa thousands of tons of salt have been extracted, and today it has been converted into a restaurant and event hall.

Luckily, to get back to the outside of the mine you won't have to climb all the steps again, but there is an elevator that will take you up. 

Friends, I recommend you to come and visit this extraordinary place, I am sure you will have many surprises and great experiences.