Near Cracow, in southern Poland is the Wieliczka Salt
Mine. Not much can be seen above the surface, but
visitors are taken down into a hidden world of man-made wonders.
According to a 700-year-old legend, princes called the
Blessed Kinga threw her ring into a salt mine at Marmaros
in Hungary. While traveling from Marmaros to Cracow, she
stopped at Wieliczka and her servants were told to dig well
and she found her ring.
For over seven centuries salt has been mined ffrom the rock
by hands. After that date, horses were used to carry salt out.
The work was still very dangerous and many miners were
killed or injured. The constant danger made the miners
deeply religious and they built a chapel. A chapel was destroyed
by fire in 1697.Miners were not allowed to take wooden statues
into the mine so they began to carve sculptures from rock salt.
Nowadays visitors are shown haw salt was mined long ago, and see
enormous cchambers which have been dug out of solid rock. They
can see green lakes too. The special attraction is the chapel of
Blessed Kinga, which was made by miners themselves in a
chamber 100 metres underground.
You will be amazed bby unforgettable sights, so don’t miss
your chance to see Wieliczka Salt Mine.