Don't Lick The Statues!

The Wieliczka Salt Mine Is Filled With Underground ChapelsAnd Magnificent Salt Sculptures.

- Darcy Pattison

Imagine an underground, nine-story apartment building. That’s about the size of the Wieliczka Salt Mine, near Krakow, Poland, one of the country’s oldest cities. The mine is a series of tunnels and chambers built more than 800 years ago.

Like any mining operation, digging for salt was dangerous work. The mine’s tunnels were supported only with wooden beams, and cave-ins were a constant danger. Sometimes the mines flooded. Most of the Polish miners were Catholic, and they took their faith underground with them. They built underground chapels, often spending their free time sculpting works of art to praise God. Before and after a hard day of mining, the miners would stop at a chapel for Mass and to pray for safety.

SCULPTING OUT OF SALT