Wieliczka Salt Mine, Poland

The Wieliczka Salt mine in Poland is a listed UNESCO monument. The salt deposits lie from 10 to 200 meters underground.

There is a huge complex of tunnels underground, in fact, nine floors of tunnels ranging from 64 meters to 327 meters in depth. The temperature in these tunnels is at a constant 15 degrees Celcius.

We had to walk down into the tunnels.
We stopped at the 3 and 5th floors to view the astonishing salt sculptures created by the miners who lived underground in semi darkness most of the time. There are also huge chambers inside (more than 2500 according to the guide) and also chapels where the miners could pray.

The sculptures portrayed the miners' lives.
Horses were also kept inside the mine to help the miners when the salt had to be winched up to the surface.
It is said that the horses became blind because of the permanent darkness in which they lived.

There is also a statue of Pope John Paul II in one of the chambers.
A statue of Goethe graces one of the smaller chambers.

There is one artificial salt lake created in one of the tunnels where one of Chopin's Etudes is played, with the lights coming on and off, illuminating the dark chamber. This is quite an unique experience, with people listening attentively to the etude in the dark while the chamber is dimly lighted when the lights come on for a few seconds before fading out again. Unfortunately I could not capture a picture that is bright enough to upload here.

All the walls of the tunnels are salt and some have been shored up with timber. They are very smooth and also taste salty when you rub your finger on it and licked your finger.

Fortunately we didn't have to climb back up through the tunnels. There were two lifts, a large one and a smaller one that took us up to the surface. There is a cafe deep down in the mine where we could have coffee and snacks while waiting for the lifts. It's really amazing that such a wonder exists from many centuries ago.
We exited through a souvenir shop that sold salt and salt crystal lamps and carvings made of salt too, apart from the usual tourist paraphernalia.