Day 2: The Salt Mines

(The walls were quite salty!)

I’ll admit, a visit to the “Salt Mines” didn’t sound very thrilling—I was very wrong! It was amazing! Parts of the salt mines in Krakow date back to the 13th century, so it was our first real taste of “old” on our trip. As Americans whose country isn’t even 250 years old we don’t really have a sense of old or ancient...Europe is different—SO much real history! They had a statue built by a miner to Copernicus because he was one of the important visitors to tour the mine--you know, back in the early1500s!  We walked wear Copernicus walked!  It was amazing to be in these underground tunnels and caves imagining workers with their pic axes and torches for lighting just working away. We were so tired after walking through the tour with all of the stairs...I couldn't imagine walking down all those stairs, working all day, then taking the stairs back up!  We took an elevator up...  The best parts of the tour were all of the chapels placed throughout (more than 50—we only saw a handful) and most amazingly the cathedral that is still an operational Catholic Church with weekly mass and weddings! The cathedral was carved completely out of the salt by talented miners—not outside artists. Even the chandeliers (which were gorgeous!) were made out of salt! Our tour guide, Aleksandra, was amazing—she had such a passion for the mines. While viewing the cathedral she had a stand at the top looking down at it while she turned down the main lights for a music and lighting ‘show’ that highlighted the acoustics and all of the amazing carvings and statues throughout the cathedral. It was amazing—a moment for worship for sure. Our tour was several hours long (all totally worth it) and we only saw 1 percent of the total mines. Much of the city is built above these mines! The salt back in the mines glory days was worth more than gold, so Krakow was literally ‘built’ by the revenue of the salt mines. Too much history to go into on here, but it was an incredible tour!

This is a google images photo of the cathedral located 200 meters below the earth's surface.  It doesn't do it justice at all!