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27 LIFESTYLE The Wieliczka salt mine The Wieliczka (magnum sal, big salt) salt mine, one of the oldest salt mines in Europe, is located in Poland near Krakow. Here the traces of salt mining dating back to 3500 years BCE can be found. When the salt springs were exhausted by the middle of the 13th century, miners searched for underground salt springs, discovering the rock salt deposits in the process. Since the 15th century, machines were used below ground to mine the salt as well as hors- es from the 17th century on. Until the 18th century the mine extended only to a depth of 60 m with four additional lev- els later created below the existing mines that reached to a depth of 340 m. From the 14th century until 1772, the Wieliczka and Bochnia salt mines were combined as the Royal Salt Mines and thus formed the largest mining company in Poland. The income from the salt trade, which made up to one-third of the Polish national income during its heyday from the 14th to the 16th centuries, was used to meet the costs for the construction of the Wawel, the Gothic royal palace, the academy, and the city fortifications in Krakow as well as being used to pay soldiers. The mining workforce comprised about 2000 people at this point, producing about 30,000 tons of salt a year. In 1913 the salt works, which are still oper- ating today, were built. After 1918 the mine became the property of the Republic of Poland which held the state monopoly on salt from 1932. In 1976 the mine was entered on the list of Polish national cultur- al monuments and in 1978 it was included on the UNESCO list of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Salt extraction only stopped in 1993. Since then, the mine has been used only for tour- ism and as a sanatorium. To prevent the mine and the city collapsing in case of pen- etrating water, any water is pumped to the surface and used to harvest evaporated salt. Wieliczka thus continues to be an im- portant Polish salt producer. In 1989 the salt mine entered the list of endangered World Heritage and in 1994 became a monu- ment forming part of the history of Poland. The mine extends across an impressive 300 kilometers and reaches to a depth of 327 meters below the city. There is a special tourist tour for visitors to Krakow. On the 2.5 kilometer long route, visitors first travel to a depth of 64 meters in a miner’s lift. From there, the tour moves along stunning walkways carved out by hand down wooden steps to a depth of 134 meters. Every year, more than a mil- lion visitors are attracted to the salt statues and galleries that the miners carved out of the salt blocks during the long nights un- derground, the enchanting underground lakes, original mining equipment, or the magnificent St. Kinga Chapel that is lit up by enormous salt crystal lanterns. A fa- mous relief that was found in the salt mine is the Last Supper that was based on the original by Leonardo da Vinci. There is also a health resort deep under- ground that specializes in the treatment of respiratory diseases, halls for parties, a res- taurant, overnight accommodation, and several meeting rooms. Those participating in the 6 th International CAMLOG Congress can visit the Wieliczka salt mine. We can heartily recommend this excursion and we guarantee that you will learn quite about “halite” there.