[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Wieliczka salt mine

[marlu at tir.com]

I received this, and as you can see it has been forwarded a lot of times.  so, I am wondering if this mine does exist as mentioned and is it still a tourist attraction?   Also where in poland is it?     It sounds so interesting.   Thanks for any info about this.

>>>>>>>>Polish Salt Mine
>>>>>>>>Deep underground in Poland lies something remarkable, but little? 
>>>>>>>>Known outside Eastern Europe .? 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>For centuries, miners have extracted salt there, but left behind things quite
>>>>>>>>Startling and unique. Take a look at the most unusual salt mine in the world. 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>From the outside, Wieliczka Salt Mine doesn??™t look extraordinary.? 
>>>>>>>>It looks extremely well kept for a place that hasn??™t mined any salt for? 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Over ten years but apart from that it looks ordinary. However, over two? 
>>>>>>>>Hundred meters below ground it holds an astonishing secret? 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>This is the salt mine that became an art gallery, cathedral and underground lake.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
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>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Situated in the Krakow area, Wieliczka is a small town of close to
>>>>>>>>Twenty thousand inhabitants. It was founded in the twelfth century by a local
>>>>>>>>Duke to mine the rich deposits of salt that lie beneath.
>>>>>>>>Until 1996 it did just that, but the generations of miners did more than
>>>>>>>>Just extract. They left behind them a breathtaking record of their time
>>>>>>>>Underground in the shape of statues of mythic, historical and religious? 
>>>>>>>>Figures. They even created their own chapels in which to pray.
>>>>>>>>Perhaps their most astonishing legacy is the huge underground cathedral
>>>>>>>>They left behind for posterity.? 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>It may feel like you are in the middle of a Jules Verne adventure? 
>>>>>>>>As you descend in to the depths of the world. After a one hundred and fifty? 
>>>>>>>>Meter climb down wooden, stairs the visitor to the salt mine will see some
>>>>>>>>Amazing sites. About the most astounding in terms of its sheer size and? 
>>>>>>>>Audacity is the Chapel of Saint Kinga.
>>>>>>>>The Polish people have for many Centuries been devout Catholics
>>>>>>>>And this was more than just a long term hobby to relieve? 
>>>>>>>>The boredom of being underground. This was an act of worship.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Amazingly, even the chandeliers in the cathedral are made of? 
>>>>>>>>Salt. It was not simply hewn from the ground and then thrown together;? 
>>>>>>>>However, the process is rather more painstaking for the lighting.
>>>>>>>>After extraction, the rock salt was first of all dissolved. It was then
>>>>>>>>Reconstituted with the impurities taken out so that it achieved a glass-like? 
>>>>>>>>Finish. The chandeliers are what many visitors think the rest of the? 
>>>>>>>>Cavernous mine will be like as they have a picture in their minds
>>>>>>>>Of salt as they would sprinkle on their meals! However, the rock salt
>>>>>>>>Occurs naturally in different shades of grey (something like you would expect? 
>>>>>>>>Granite to look like).
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Still, that doesn??™t stop well over one million visitors (mainly from Poland
>>>>>>>>And its eastern European neighbors) from visiting the mine to see,? 
>>>>>>>>Amongst other things, how salt was mined in the past.? 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>For safety reasons less than one percent of the mine is open to? 
>>>>>>>>Visitors, but even that is still almost four kilometers in length ??“ more? 
>>>>>>>>Than enough to weary the average tourist after an hour or two.
>>>>>>>>The mine was closed for two reasons ??“ the low price of salt on the world? 
>>>>>>>>Market made it too expensive to extract here.
>>>>>>>>Also, the mine was slowly flooding ??“ another reason why visitors
>>>>>>>>Are restricted to certain areas only.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>The religious carvings are, in reality, what draw many to this? 
>>>>>>>>Mine ??“ as much for their amazing verisimilitude as for their Christian? 
>>>>>>>>Aesthetics. The above shows Jesus appearing to the apostles after the? 
>>>>>>>>Crucifixion. He shows the doubter, Saint Thomas , the wounds on his? 
>>>>>>>>Wrists.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>Another remarkable carving, this time a take on The Last Supper.? 
>>>>>>>>The work and patience that must have gone into the creation of these? 
>>>>>>>>Sculptures is extraordinary. One wonders what the miners would
>>>>>>>>Have thought of their work going on general display?
>>>>>>>>They came to be quite used to it, in fact, even during the mine??™s
>>>>>>>>Busiest period in the nineteenth century. The Cream of Europe??™s
>>>>>>>>Thinkers visited the site ??“ you can still see many of their names in the
>>>>>>>>Old visitor??™s books on display.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>These reliefs are perhaps among some of the most iconographic? 
>>>>>>>>Works of Christian folk art in the world and really do deserve to be shown.? 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>It comes as little surprise to learn that the mine was placed on the? 
>>>>>>>>Original list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites back in 1978.
>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Not all of the work is relief-based. There are many life sized statues
>>>>>>>>That must have taken a considerable amount of time ??“ months, perhaps
>>>>>>>>Even years ??“ to create. Within the confines of the mine there is also much? 
>>>>>>>>To be learned about the miners from the machinery and tools that they used ??“? 
>>>>>>>>Many of which are on display and are centuries old. A catastrophic flood in? 
>>>>>>>>1992 dealt the last blow to commercial salt mining in the area and now the? 
>>>>>>>>mine functions purely as a tourist attraction. Brine is, however, still? 
>>>>>>>>extracted from the mine ??“ and then evaporated to produce some salt,
>>>>>>>>but hardly on the ancient scale. If this was not done, then the mines would
>>>>>>>>soon become flooded once again.? 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>Not all of the statues have a religious or symbolic imagery attached to them.
>>>>>>>>The miners had a sense of humor, after all! Here can be seen? 
>>>>>>>>their own take on the legend of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
>>>>>>>>The intricately carved dwarves must have seemed to some of the
>>>>>>>>miners a kind of ironic depiction of their own work.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>The miners even threw in a dragon for good measure!? 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Certainly, they may have whistled while they did it but the conditions in the
>>>>>>>>salt mine were far from comfortable and the hours were long ??“ the fact
>>>>>>>>that it was subterranean could hardly have added to the excitement of? 
>>>>>>>>going to work each morning.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>To cap it all there is even an underground lake, lit by subdued electricity and
>>>>>>>>candles. This is perhaps where the old legends of lakes to the underworld
>>>>>>>>and Catholic imagery of the saints work together to best leave a lasting? 
>>>>>>>>impression of the mine. How different a few minutes reflection here
>>>>>>>>must have been to the noise and sweat of everyday working life? 
>>>>>>>>in the mine.