The Wieliczka Salt Mine

1
The Wieliczka Salt Mine
2
HISTORY

• The history of the Wieliczka Salt Mine
  dates back to the 10th century, which makes it
  the second oldest mine in Poland. The first
  records of Wieliczka date back to the 11th and
  12th centuries, when it was officially recognized
  by the Polish king, Boleslaw the Brave. Almost
  from that moment the Wieliczka Salt Mine became
  the main economic foundation of the area. Even
  though Wieliczka provided unbelievable amounts of
  salt, the excavation process was extremely
  expensive, mainly due to the rather primitive and
  time consuming techniques used by the miners. The
  management over the mine remained strictly in the
  hands of the Royal Family.

3
(No Transcript)
4
(No Transcript)
5

• Later on, Polish kings freely used
  Wieliczka salt to pay off their debts or to trade
  with neighbouring countries. Some of the money
  was invested into more notable enterprises, such
  as the creation of the Kraków Academy and the
  restoration of the Wawel Castle.
• The Wieliczka Salt Mine reached its peak of
  profitability in the 16th century. In the 18th
  and 19th century it was decided that the mine
  should be transformed into a full-blown health
  resort, complete with ornate chambers, brine
  baths and the 17th century underground Chapel of
  St. Anthony. The year 1826 saw Wieliczka began to
  be officially referred to as a health centre,
  particularly recommended for patients with asthma
  and allergies.

6

• One of the early advocates of Wieliczka's
  curative properties was Mieczyslaw Skulimowski,
  who discovered that Wieliczka's unique
  microclimate helped to cure inflammation of the
  respiratory tracts. In the 19th century Wieliczka
  became such a popular tourist destination that a
  special tourist route had to be created to cater
  the growing demands of the visitors.
  Unfortunately, this and frequent flooding caused
  great damage to the fragile construction of the
  mine. At the end of the 1950s the condition of
  the corridors and chapels was so alarming that
  the tours had to be cancelled. After renovation
  process lasting nearly two decades the mine was
  reopened and today it welcomes thousands of
  visitors every month.

7

• The Wieliczka Salt Mine, nowadays
  practically on the southeast outskirts of Krakow,
  has been worked for 900 years. It used to be one
  of the world's biggest and most profitable
  industrial establishments when common salt was
  commercially a medieval equivalent of today's
  oil. Since the mid-18th century Krakow's
  Wieliczka salt mine has become increasingly a
  tourist attraction in the first place. It is the
  oldest working mine which is open for tourists in
  Europe. Today the mine consists of nine levels
  going down to a depth of 327m. There are 2,040
  chambers connected by 200 km of passages.

8
The Wieliczka undergrounds are full of life not
only due to the famous tourist route. Its
chambers, including Warszawa, Budryk, Haluszka
and Haluszka II are immensely popular among event
organisers who value the unique character of the
place and the available professional services.
Recent guests include President George Bush
Senior, Prince and Princess Takamado (Japan), the
Princess of Thailand, King of Malesia, Javier
Solana - the NATO Secretary General, Alberto
Fujimori - The President of Peru, Valdas Adamkus
- the President of Lithuania, Ludmila Putin the
Wife to the President of the Russian Federation,
the Polish Presidents Lech Walesa and Aleksander
Kwasniewski, the Polish Prime Ministers
Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz and Jerzy Buzek, Józef
Glemp the Primate of the Catholic Church in
Poland, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz the former
President of the Polish NBP National Bank,
Czeslaw Milosz, Zbigniew Preisner, the renowned
violinist Nigel Kennedy, the legendary guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore, and - last but not least the
members of the British royal family Prince
Edward and his spouse, Sophie.
9
6.5-hour treatment visits during rehabilitation -
treatment stays (Sunday is a day off) take place
in the unique salt scenery of the Lake Wessel
Chamber, well - equipped with physical therapy
equipment. The chamber is located 135 meters
underground. The specific microclimate of the
underground Lake Wessel Chamber is characterised
by bacteriological purity furthermore, the air
of the chamber contains large quantities of
sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium ions.
10
Active rehabilitation treatment includes modern
breathing exercises able to control and improve
the respiratory system. Therefore, the stay in
our mine is especially beneficial for treating
lower and upper tract respiratory system diseases
(infections of nose, sinuses, throat, larynx,
asthma, COPD, bronchi diseases), allergies, skin
diseases, metabolic disorders (obesity).
11
In 1976 the Wieliczka Salt Mine was entered in
the National Monuments Registry. Two years later,
in 1978, the mine was inscribed in UNESCO's First
World List of Cultural and Natural Heritage, and
in 1994 it was acknowledged as the National
History Monument by the president of Poland.
At present, the underground tourist route is
visited annually by over 1,000,000 tourists. It
is the most popular Polish tourist
attraction. "The historic Salt Mine in Wieliczka
is the only mining site in the world functioning
continuously since the Middle Ages. Lying on nine
levels, its original excavations (longitudinals,
traverses, chambers, lakes, as well as minor and
major shafts) stretch for the total of about 300
kilometres reaching the depth of 327 metres they
illustrate all the stages of mining technology
development over time." The quotation comes from
the justification for entering the Wieliczka Salt
Mine on UNESCO's First World List of Cultural and
Natural Heritage, 8th September, 1978 together
with 11 other sites from around the world.