Wieliczka is famous for salt mine. The mine is no longer in operation. It is now a great tourist attraction and we fully took advantage of what the mine has to offer.
We a took guided tour in which we had only covered about 2% of all the mine trails. And we walked for hours!
I remember visiting it back in 80's when I was in elementary school. I still remember the school picture in front of the building. I think my parents have it somewhere...
The last time I was there, was in 2001, when Andrzej took me for an elegant dinner to a very unique restaurant around 350 feet under. To the dinner we were invited as a part of Conference that Andrzej attended.
This time kids were old enough to enjoy it and remember few hours spent in mines. And the mines are impressive !
I have a soft spot in my heart for this place. I was named after St. Kinga, who is patroness of Wieliczka's mine and also, as the legend says, she is the one who brought salt to Poland as her gift to Polish people from her and her Hungarian father, King Bela IV. When she was about to marry Polish Duke Boleslaw V the Chaste, she threw her ring into salt mine in Hungary. When arriving to Poland she asked the villagers to dig and there in the salt rock they found her ring. More or less that's the story.
Here is more about her.
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| We walked 83 flights of stairs down |
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| Level 330 feet under |
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| Nicolas Copernicus - salt statue |
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| Legend of St. Kinga |
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| One of many chapels. Kiki has mentioned that it would be wonderful to get marry in one of them! |
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| Big chapel of St. Kinga |
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| Salt Relief |
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| Salt Altar |
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| More salt |
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| Zuzanna, the miner |
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| Very modern chapel of St. John Paul II |
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| In the museum |
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| St Kinga by Jan Matejko, the most famous Polish painter. I like him a lot, but I have a feeling that he always had the same face model... |
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| More of museum exponents |
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| Salty Frederic Chopin :) |
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And more salt!
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Kinga.
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