Vielicka Salt Mine: The underground city with the museum carved in salt

The most famous salt mine and one of the oldest in Europe is in and attracts many tourists every year. The reason for the famous salt mine of Vielicka, located in the city of Poland and 15 km south-east of Krakow. CORVERSE The salt mine of Vielicka extends to nine underground levels and reaches a depth of 327 meters, with more than 2,040 rooms and 300 km arcades, carved on solid salt volumes, as well as groundwater lakes. Its history begins in the 13th century and is the second salt mine in ancient times in Europe. In 1119, reference is first made to the “white gold” of the area. The extraction of salt was constantly taking place from medieval times and specifically from 1290 to 1996, when salt reserves were depleted. The Chapel of Blessed Kinga in the mine In 1950, Vielicka’s salt mine turns into a museum and begins to welcome visitors. The tour of the spectacular sites of the salt mine lasts about two hours, always accompanied by a guide, on a route about 2 km on foot. CORVERSE The museum is located on the third floor of the salt mine and at a depth of 130 meters. For years, salt miners made from salt impressive works of art, which still adorn the halls of the salt mine. The most important attraction of the salt mine is the “Blessed Kinga Chapel”, a cathedral measuring 54 m by 17 m and with a height of 12 meters. The construction of this underground temple lasted more than 30 years (1896 – 1927), while 20,000 tons of solid salt were used. All objects within the temple, from chandeliers to religious worship, are made entirely from the salt of the mine. From the ceiling of the temple are hanging chandeliers of salt, the Holy Bank and a crucified one dominate the hall, while the walls are decorated with reliefs of salt biblical performances. Among the other chapels of the salt mine is the excellent baroque “Church of St Antony”, consecrated in 1698. Its walls are decorated with relief representations, while there are many statues made of salt, from which stands the Virgin Mary with Infant Saint Antony, patron saint of miners. The most remarkable perhaps relief inside the salt mine is “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci. Other statues of salt are of Saint Barbara, patron of miners, Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus, Pope John Paul II and other celebrities. The myth of St. Kinga is particularly impressive in the “Blessed King’s Chapel” is the form of St. Kinga with a kneeling salt mine offering Agia, salt and a ring. Saint Kinga of Poland (1224 – 1292) was a Duchess of Hungary, daughter of King Bella IV of Hungary and Maria Laskarina, daughter of Byzantine emperor Theodorus I Laskaris. Kinga was engaged at the age of 16 to the Duke and later King of Poland Voleslao V the “A pure”, who was then 19. According to popular legend, Kinga asked her father to give her as a wedding gift, instead of gold and jewelry, a salt mine. To make her wish come true, she threw her engagement ring in a salt mine in Hungary. After her wedding in Poland, Kinga, traveling a day in the nearby town of Vielitzka, ordered the Hungarian salt miners, who had brought together from her homeland, to open a well. Instead of water, “white gold” was mined, as well as her ring in a salt rock, the ring that the Duchess had thrown into the salt mine in Hungary. Thus, Kinga has since been declared patron of the salt miners and since 1690 the worship of “as blessed Kinga” has also begun. He was sanctified by the Roman Catholic Church, by Pope John Paul II, on 16 June 1999, as Saint Kinga of Poland. Since its founding, the salt mine of Vielicka attracted the interest of famous visitors. Among them, was the famous Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus, Goethe, Chopin, German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, German emperor William I, Russian Tsar Alexander I, the founder of the Bayden-Powell Scouting, U.S. President Bill Clinton, who were toured in his underground halls and polydalas galleries. When Francis Joseph First of the Habsburgs visited the salt mine of Vielitzka, mine engineers built a railway line inside the salt mine, on which horses were hauled. Vielicka’s salt mine is a cultural monument and has been included since 1978 in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.