Wieliczka, Salt Mine 2

This salt mine has been operating for several hundred years. Mine shafts go down over a thousand feet, and the corridors extend for nearly two hundred miles. The thing of great interest is all the sculpture, and other works of art, that were created by miners. We visited several levels by , and walked for miles (it seemed), and saw many works of art, carved entirely out of salt.

The most spectacular is the Chapel of Blessed Kinga, carved in one of the large domes that resulted from mining activity. Work continued for the next 70 years, by several different sculptors. On all the walls are beautiful three dimensional statues (bas-relief) of various religious scenes, such as the Last Supper. There are several chapels, altars, statues, and in 1999 the chapel received a monument, a statue of Pope John Paul II. The floor looks like a carefully laid tile design, but further examination shows that it's just salt carved to look like individual tiles.

The huge chandeliers in Wieliczka’s underground Cathedral are made of crystals of salt, but designed to look just like crystal chandeliers we have seen elsewhere.