1094 early Middle Ages, a town proudly called “Magnum Sal,” known in Poland and neighboring countries for its salt trade. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka, and since then, for 700 years, a mine has been explored in the very center of the town, extracting salt using the dry method, and since the 1920s, also using leaching methods. The “Cracow Saltworks” company was established, belonging for centuries to the rulers of Poland and then to the Polish state. Managed from the Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka, it brought together salt mines not only in Wieliczka, but also in Bochnia, 30 km away, as well as salt warehouses and numerous workshops. It brought considerable income to the state treasury and became one of the largest industrial plants in modern Europe. As a result of hundreds of years of underground work, in a salt deposit unique in terms of its geological structure (solid and bedded), 240 km of galleries and approx. 2,350 chambers, often of enormous size, were excavated on 9 levels. Salt mining reached its peak in the 1970s, but then the deposit was exhausted and the continued operation of the industrial plant became unprofitable. In 1996, mining operations were discontinued. Currently, the local salt works produce only 12,000 tons of evaporated salt per year as a result of the necessary disposal of saline water pumped out of the mine. Despite the cessation of production, miners still work in the mine, responsible for preparing the mine for mass tourism and securing the excavations located just below the city (liquidation of unnecessary excavations using hydraulic backfill or securing valuable, historic excavations with various casings and anchors). Mining law and supervision by the Higher Mining Authority still apply at the plant. In the 20th century, the Wieliczka Mine developed its second function – tourism – in parallel with intensive salt mining, and the change in its profile was gradual and spread out over time. Tourism has an exceptionally long tradition in this mine, which is unique on a global scale. The first visitors appeared in the mine as early as the end of the 15th century. Among them were reportedly Nicolaus Copernicus and Konrad Celsius. At the end of the 18th century, the first regular tourist route was marked out, leading through 28 of the most impressive chambers on levels 1 and 2, where salt was no longer mined. Rulers, aristocrats, artists, scientists, and travelers from all over Europe came here, including Fryderyk Chopin, J.W. Goethe, and Dmitri Mendeleev, and eventually even guests from America. The tour was accompanied by music, fireworks displays, and the opportunity to observe the miners at work. The number of visitors recorded in the “Guest Book” was 120 at the end of the 18th century, 4,000 at the end of the 19th century, and about 10,000 per year in the 1920s and 1940s. The history of protecting the „Wieliczka” Salt Mine as a historical monument dates back to those times. It was then, at the end of the 1940s, that a local teacher, painter, and photographer, Alfons Długosz, with the help of miners and the consent of the mine management, began exploring the historical excavations. Knowing that many old chambers and galleries were to be liquidated, he described and photographed them, and removed, secured, and documented old mining tools, equipment, and machines. As early as 1951, the collected artifacts were used to create an exhibition in the mine, which was made available to visitors. These were pioneering activities for the time and were 20-50 years ahead of efforts to preserve mining heritage in other mines. Over the years, the collection grew, so several large chambers on the third level of the mine were adapted for its needs. Thanks to Długosz's determination, our Cracow Saltworks Museum was established in 1951 and is still in operation today. In 1966, the first underground museum exhibition was opened at a depth of 135 m. Authentic mining machines found in various locations in the mine were used to create a unique collection of wooden hoisting machines from the 17th-19th centuries, the largest of its kind in the world. At that time, it was the largest underground mining museum in the world. It covered an area of 7.5 km² at a depth of 135 meters and housed approximately 2,500 original exhibits from the mine. The museum presented all topics in chronological or thematic order – geology and beautiful salt specimens, archaeological finds, the history of the company, a cartographic collection, a collection of mining lamps, equipment, and tools. Thanks to the efforts of the Cracow Saltworks Museum, a large part of the mine between levels I and VIII was placed under conservation protection in 1976 and entered in the Polish Register of Monuments. Soon after, another great success was achieved – in 1978, the Wieliczka Salt Mine was entered in the newly created UNESCO World Heritage List. “Wieliczka” was the first technical monument to be included on this list. This original entry from 1978 was expanded in 2013 with the addition of two sites: the aforementioned Salt Mine in Bochnia and the Saltworks Castle in Wieliczka. From the 13th century until 1945, the castle was the seat of the Cracow Saltworks administration. The entire historical enterprise was thus covered by a single serial entry under the name “Royal Salt Mines in Wieliczka and Bochnia.”
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