Wieliczka Salt Mine

After a rather disagreeable night at the new hostel (Evergreen's was fully booked for the weekend), I had a relatively early start on Sunday to head to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, an UNESCO heritage site. One of the oldest salt mines in Europe, it started to operate in the 13th century. According to legend, Princess Kinga from Hungary had asked for a dowry of rock salt instead of gold and jewels. Her father gave her the largest salt mine of the kingdom, but she didn't know how to transfer it to her new home, Poland. So she threw her engagement ring into a mine shaft and prayed. Not long after, she ordered miners to dig in a particular spot and when they hit rock, she recognized it as salt. They broke the rock apart and her engagement ring appeared, meaning her dowry had miraculously been brought to Poland.

Today, about 1% of the mine can be visited - a tour of no less than 3 hours. Apart from learning about the history and methods of salt mining throughout the centuries, we marveled at the spacious halls and chapels that had been dug underground. They were home to impressive salt sculptures the miners would carve after their long, sun-deprived shifts. Some of these halls were reminiscent of Tolkien's Khazad-Dum and the Dwarven city within Lonely Mountain. I wouldn't be surprised if they served as an inspiration...Read more