Poland: Weiliczka Salt Mine (June 22, 2014)

After a really fun night out in Krakow on Saturday, we started our day with the Old Synagogue in the Kazimierz district. It is the oldest synagogue building that is still standing in Poland and was one of the most important in the city before the war broke out in 1939. It is now the home to a museum that is dedicated to the Jewish faith. I am very unfamiliar with the Jewish faith and their practices, so it was interesting the read about it in such a historical building.

We then ventured to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site on the outskirts of Krakow. Until 2007 this mine produced everyday table salt but has now turned into a tourist attraction with chapels, a cathedral, a restaurant, a 5-D movie theatre and even a health spa…all underground! Watch out Mom and Dad, I could even be married in the chapel that was carved out by the miners.

(Da Vinci's Last Supper - carved out of salt on the side of the cathedral wall)

(Copernicus)

At its deepest the mine reaches over 1,000 feet under the earth’s surface. There is an underground lake (which our hilarious tour guide called the Salt Lake City Lake) and the tour that we went on (just over 1.5 hours long) only covered roughly 1% of the length of passageways. 

Our 15 minute bus ride turned into an hour long nap after we got stuck in traffic but there were truly no complaints after our long day on Sunday. We were able to quickly make our way through the Ulica Pomorska Museum (former Gestapo Cells). They building where they were located was the headquarters of the Gestapo during WWII and prisoners were interrogated and tortured in the prison cells in the cellar. All along the wall were carved inscriptions of names, dates and quotes from previous political prisoners who were killed.

We made our way back to the city center in time for the Rynek Underground Museum. It is literally under the same market that we all shopped at during the previous day. This museum showed the different cobblestone roads throughout the centuries of Krakow and was very interactive.