Wieliczka Salt Mine

Wieliczka Salt Mine
UNESCO World Heritage Site
St. Kinga's Chapel, deep in the Wieliczka salt mine
LocationWieliczka, Kraków County, Lesser Poland Province, Poland
Part ofWieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines
Includes
  • Salt Mine in Wieliczka
  • Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka
CriteriaCultural: (iv)
Reference32ter
Inscription1978 (2nd Session)
Extensions2008, 2013
Endangered1989–1998[1]
Area970 ha (2,400 acres)
Buffer zone250 ha (620 acres)
Websitewww.kopalnia.pl
Coordinates49°58′45″N 20°3′50″E / 49.97917°N 20.06389°E / 49.97917; 20.06389
Wieliczka Salt Mine is located in Poland
Wieliczka Salt Mine
Location of Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland
Wieliczka Salt Mine is located in Lesser Poland Voivodeship
Wieliczka Salt Mine
Wieliczka Salt Mine (Lesser Poland Voivodeship)

The Wieliczka Salt Mine (Polish: Kopalnia soli Wieliczka) is a salt mine in the town of Wieliczka, near Kraków in southern Poland.

From Neolithic times, sodium chloride (table salt) was produced there from the upwelling brine. The Wieliczka salt mine, excavated from the 13th century, produced table salt continuously until 1996,[2] as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines. Throughout its history, the royal salt mine was operated by the Żupy Krakowskie (Kraków Salt Mines) company.[3][4]

Due to falling salt prices and mine flooding, commercial salt mining was discontinued in 1996.[3][4]

The Wieliczka Salt Mine is now an official Polish Historic Monument (Pomnik Historii) and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its attractions include the shafts and labyrinthine passageways, displays of historic salt-mining technology, an underground lake, four chapels and numerous statues carved by miners out of the rock salt, and more recent sculptures by contemporary artists.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference UNESCO-1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "History of the Mine". www.wieliczka-saltmine.com. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Wieliczka – The Salt of the Earth"
  4. ^ a b Ancient salt-works. Wieliczka see: carving by Jozef Markowski, late 19th century. (Internet Archive). Retrieved 31 July 2013.

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