Wieliczka Salt Mine

Brine from salt water springs was boiled in clay pots to extract pure salt during Neolithic times. Old saltworking tools discovered in Barycz village in Central Europe near Wieliczka belong to the prehistoric period. The salt extracted was used as a preservative for meat and it later became a means of payment in trade to those who did not own this valuable substance. This secret of salt production by evaporation was passed on to the next generations in the following centuries.

During the 11th and 12th centuries, when salt water springs began to disappear, the search for brine started. Wells were constructed and saline water was brought to the surface after which it was boiled in pans to get pure evaporated salt. In the 13th century, lumps of rock salt were found for the first time while digging wells which instigated the idea of obtaining salt by mining. The first mining was done in the second half of the 13th century by local specialists with technical knowledge from Western Europe.

During this period, the revenue from salt extraction played a crucial part in the wealth of the nation’s treasury. Casimir III, who was the Polish king then, founded the Krakow Academy and Saltworks Statue from the high profits of salt mining. Around 350 people worked in Wieliczka Salt Mine Poland and the annual production of salt was 7000-8000 tonnes then. However, mining was still seasonal and was done only when agricultural works were not carried out. Visitors were allowed to enter the mine and Nicolaus Copernicus was the first tourist in 1493.

The period from the 16th to 18th centuries marked a dynamic development in the mining of rock salt as it was when the Wieliczka Salt Mine Poland moved to a year-round working pattern. Specialists from various fields were recruited and the first maps of the underground were created. The search for salt extended below the first level and by the 17th century it went till the third level. By 1724, extraction of salt by evaporation was stopped and only the mining methods were used. The number of visitors to the mine also grew steadily during this period.

In 1772, the partition of Poland took place and Wieliczka Salt Mine Poland came under the control of the Habsburg Monarchy. The new owners focused on the development of the mine but did not care for its security. Extraction of salt by gunpowder was formulated and hence production resumed in modern saltworks. Tourism was given importance and different attractions like devil’s drop, horse-drawn railway and boat rides on saline lakes were initiated to attract visitors. The number of tourists grew up to a hundred people per week by the start of the 20th century.

After World War I and repossession of independence by Poland, the Wieliczka Salt Mine came under the Polish administration. The names of excavations and shafts were symbolically changed during this time. Production of salt increased to 203,000 tonnes per year and trade became highly profitable. The mine became stabilised with further developments, expansion and tourist growth during the Interwar Period. Eminent personalities were invited to the mine and events were held for visitors to lure many tourists into coming here often.

Right before the start of World War II, a leaching process in which brine was obtained dissolving salt rocks with fresh water was discovered. The 1940s and 1950s were quite difficult for the Wieliczka Salt Mine Poland since there was an increase in production regardless of the cost and safety of the workers. The mine extended to nine levels but the idea of preserving the mine for future generations rather than industrial production came into existence. By 1978, mining techniques were stopped and production of salt by evaporation using wet mining commenced.

The mine, at present, has no live extraction but around 400 miners work here every day for safety reasons. They toil hard to preserve the mine for tourists by filling the post-excavation voids with brine and taking care of fresh water leaks. New attractions are put up in the underground mine while the existing chambers, corridors and chapels are renovated. The Wieliczka Salt Mine Poland has now become a famous tourist attraction that welcomes nearly 2 million visitors every year. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an official National Historic Landmark of Poland.

Around 13.6 million years ago, the cooling of climate, rock mass movements and subsidence caused the seabed of Miocene Sea to drop steadily. This created a reservoir with very high salinity in the Carpathian Foredeep as a result of which salt deposits were formed in the Wieliczka Salt Mine Poland. Slow precipitation of salt deposit along with caving in of seabed and erosion of coastal parts caused excessive deposit of gangue in the salt beds. These salt deposits extend for 300 km in length and 100 km in width which includes Wieliczka deposits that run for 10 km in length and 1.5 km in width.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine Poland has an exclusive geological structure that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The tectonic activity of the Carpathian Mountains caused folding of the salt layers and shaped the deposit into an unusual structure. The two-fold composition of the deposit has two parts namely, upper lump deposit and lower bedded deposit. The lump deposit is made up of chunks of rock salt while the bedded deposit has different types of salt layers like fore-shaft salt deposit and eagle spiza salt.

Rock salt or halite that appears green due to the admixture of claystones is the commonly found salt in Wieliczka Salt Mine Poland. There are different types of Wieliczka salt which are easily identifiable for experienced miners but are difficult for tourists. You can witness the Typical green salt and stained-glass green salt in the lump deposit and fore-shaft salt in the bedded deposit. You can also see the different types of Spiza salt like Eagle spiza salt and the rare Cracking salt in the bedded deposit.

The underground landscape of Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland is even more beautiful because of various forms of Secondary crystallisation salts. As you walk along the sightseeing route, you can see different structures of salts from geological times to modern times. The crystallisation is associated with brine leaks and hence depending on the location of the leak, it can take a variety of forms. You can see spongy growths of salt called ‘salt cauliflowers’, narrow dripstone tubes known as ‘salt pasta’ and the less common salt stains and stalagmites.