In Wieliczka, Poland down at the bottom of about 380 mind boggling steps, there are gray walls. You’d think it’d be rock, but no, they taste rather salty. Why do visitors know this? They are encouraged to lick the walls.
In Poland’s second largest city lies the underground realm of Kraków, Wieliczka Salt Mine. It is part cathedral, part industrial relic, and a part of a theme park. Every day, over 9,000 visitors come into the mine, which had been declared a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1978.
Production of salt ended in 1996, with over 700 years of operation, and more than 150 miles of tunnels chiseled underground. Now, it lives on as a tourist attraction. Over many centuries, multiple miners that worked at Wieliczka created nine levels of tunnels and chambers reaching about 1,073 feet. Today, only about 2% of what they actually mined still remains open to the public. Even that fraction is impressive.
Guests are accompanied by guides, they can walk the classic tourist route that is just over two miles. Completion of this route can be done in about two hours or so. If they don’t want to go that route, they can opt for the “miners’ route.” On this three hour adventure, they’re given all the necessities like a headlamp, helmet and an emergency carbon monoxide absorber. Today, the mine is filled with statues, carvings and many beautiful grand chandeliers that trace the mine’s history and offer insight into the lives of those who had worked there.
The salt walls are not white because the sodium chloride is not pure, which explains why the tour guide, Patrycja Antoniak, encourages her visitors to lick the walls. “Not there,” she warns, “Many people lick there. Ninety to ninety-five percent of the rock is salt — sodium chloride — and impurities give the salt the gray color,” she says. In Wieliczka, the mix includes other minerals as well as sand, silt, and claystone. “Despite the color, it’s still edible,” Antoniak adds. “It was used to preserve food without being purified.” So, if Poland is the next vacation spot for the family, don’t be shy to check out this one of a kind exhibit.
