The following post is all about one of our favorite destinations in Poland, and is brought to you by proud Educational Travel Week sponsor, LOT Polish Airlines.
What if I told you that one of the coolest places you’ll see on a tour of central Europe may be right under your… feet? Taking a fun trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mines near Krakow, Poland may sound a little far- fetched, but we bet you’ll find the mines worth each step down the giant subterranean staircase. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the secret’s out. It’s one of the world’s oldest working salt mines that produced table salt from the 13th century until 2007 (until flooding shut down operations.) But beyond it’s commercial history, it’s truly a unique experience that you’ll want to unearth for yourself. Explore labyrinth passages, giant caverns and large lakes. And, check out chapels filled with sculptures, statues and chandeliers—all made of rock salt, (yes the kind that basically pours out of your shaker.)
This Krakow wonder is a man-made museum where visitors (up to 6,000 visitors a day, but who’s counting), walk beneath the earth’s surface in the oldest part of the mine. After taking about 400 steps or so down a wooden stairway, you will reach the largest chapel (1 of 40) in the mine, Chapel of Saint Kinga. And yes, this place of worship was carved out of a giant block of salt. It took over 100 years for miners to decorate the chamber. As you leave the chapel, be sure to take note of the only sculpture of the Polish Pope John Paul II, made wholly out of natural sodium chloride and maybe a sprinkling of other minerals. The Chapel of St. Anthony is about 300 years old, the longest surviving chapel at Wieliczka. Containing salt figures of Christ on the crucifix, the Virgin and Child, and St. Anthony, this chamber was carved in the shape of a baroque church.
Life-size statues were created to look over the miners and protect them from danger, including flooding, although the most recent flood was in 1982. They include mythical figures and religious pieces, like “good luck” gnomes and the “Last Supper”—all made out of, you guessed it. Don’t be fooled by the color, however–the pieces look more like unpolished granite than the white grains you sprinkle on your meal.
With no less than five UNESCO World Heritage sites in the area, Krakow is surely a city that offers more than a taste of majesty. To find the easiest route to Central Europe and specifically, Poland, call upon our friends at LOT Polish Airlines and venture into this underground town. Or, of course, join Explorica’s Central Europe Tour and request a stop here along a circuit of magnificent cities from Berlin and Prague to Budapest and Vienna. Visited over the centuries by Nicolaus Copernicus, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Pope John Paul II, himself, you’ll join a notable list of tourists to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. And after your experience? You might find that the effort, patience and time that the minors poured into their intricate works of art gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, “take it with a grain of salt.”