Wieliczka Salt Mine
Landmark
A mine in Poland where salt was dug for seven hundred years, with a church carved out of salt.
Under the town of Wieliczka, near Kraków, salt was mined from the thirteenth century until 1996. The miners left behind nearly 300 kilometres of passages on nine levels, down to 327 metres deep.
They also carved. There are statues, chapels and a whole church 101 metres under the ground, in which everything is made of salt: the floor, the altar, even the crystals of the chandeliers.
- deep
- 327 m
- of passages
- 287 km
- World Heritage since
- 1978
- 1
It was among the very first twelve places put on the World Heritage list.
- 2
Horses worked in the mine and lived in stables under the ground.
- 3
Salt was once so valuable that it was called white gold. The mine paid for a large part of what the Polish king had to spend.
Question 1 of 2
What is the underground church made of?
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It is in Poland.
Read about Poland