'The historic Salt Mine in Wieliczka is the only site in the world where mining has continued since the Middle Ages. Lying on nine levels, its original excavations (longitudinals, traverses, chambers, lakes, as well as lesser and major shafts) stretch for the total of 300 kilometres:...

'The historic Salt Mine in Wieliczka is the only site in the world where mining has continued since the Middle Ages. Lying on nine levels, its original excavations (longitudinals, traverses, chambers, lakes, as well as lesser and major shafts) stretch for the total of 300 kilometres: reaching the depth of 327 metres they illustrate all the stages of the development of the mining technology over time.'

The quotation comes from an the justification of entering the Wieliczka Salt Mine into UNESCO's 1st World List of Cultural and Natural Heritage on 8th September, 1978 together with 11 other sites from all over the world.
For, indeed, reaching back to the Middle Ages, the history of Wieliczka is a reflection of progress of mining technology, development of work organisation and management, birth of legislation in industry, as well as a lesson in patriotism and love of freedom. The beginnings of Wieliczka, one of the world's most famous mines of the world, do reach the Middle Ages, when it assumed the name of Magnum Sal (Great Salt.)

The oldest of documents that shed some light on the history of the mine is a privilege of Casimirus the Restorer of 1044, referring to Wieliczka as 'magnum sal alias Wieliczka.' Since times immemorial salt was the economic foundation of the state. In the Polish lands it was used, in the ancient times, as a means of payment, replacing the metal coinage in its form of salt krusze .
Initially, salt was acquired from brine springs through heating the brine and vaporisation of water. It is not known when the excavation of hard salt began; most probably during the deepening of the brine wells, a salt deposit was discovered, and its excavation with primitive tools began.
The contemporary Polish monarchs quickly realised what value the white ore had. That is why a monopoly on the exploitation and even distribution of salt was introduced.

They knew that salt was a most important commodity, as it was indispensable for survival. In large amounts it was needed for preservation of meat, butter, and fish, tanning of hides, and later also for the production of gunpowder.
During the first period of operation of Krakow Salt Works, the king was forced to resort to the services of private entrepreneurs, the reasons for such a development being the massive costs of mining investments, and the necessity to recruit miners knowing their trade.
The entrepreneur covered any risks related to the search for salt and financed the deepening of the shafts, yet the shaft became royal property and was managed by the king, should salt be found in it. The monarch covered the costs in instalments, guaranteeing lifelong tenure, the right to excavate a stated amount of salt on a single occasion, and nominated him the bachmistrz (technical director) in the administration of the mine.

Thus despite of bringing profits in the food and preservation industry, salt became an instrument of government. Already in the 14th century, salt mines generated over 30% of all the State's income. The monarchs use their income to pay allowance to their consorts, members of the royal family, and also various noble state officials. The Salt Mines maintain the royal court and persons of especial importance in the State, and pay for the upkeep of the castles guarding the trade routes.

The Krakow Academy (later known as the Jagiellonian University) has much to owe the salt from Wieliczka. The royal founder of the Academy, Casimir the Great used the income from the Salt Mine to finance the new university, similarly, later monarchs and nobles spared no donations for the Academy. It was Casimir the Great who, in 1368, laid down the principles of operation of the Mine, laying them down in a statute later referred to as Statut Kazimierzowski (Casimir's Statute.) The document defines the duties and rights of individual officers and of various worker groups, providing also the 'bookkeeping' regulations such as e.g. clearings with the State Treasury, and fixes the payments and manufacturer's prices of salt.

The main instrument of royal control over the Salt Mine where specially established royal commissions which checked the condition of the underground excavations and buildings, examined the correctness of clearings with the Treasury, and also issued guidelines and instructions.

In the 16th century, the Wieliczka Salt Mine became one of the largest business enterprises in the then modern Europe. Apart from the staff performing works directly connected with production and administration, the mine employed carpenters, barrel-makers, smiths, wagon drivers, and stable boys. The Mine even had its own kitchens (the predecessor of today's canteen,) an own physician, and even a specific 'welfare system,' and 'pension benefit.'

At the turn of the 14th century, the exploitation and underground transport were manual. The salt reached the surface on ropes which were set in motion with the so-called hasple , i.e. rope drums operated by people. Around the year 1400 those were replaced by deptaki - treadmills set on the drum with the rope coiled over it. The machine was set in motion by the weight of the deptacze treading on the steps of the drum. The next stage in the development of transport facilities was the horse gear introduced in the mine in mid-15th century. Technological progress and development of the machinery increased the production and the gains from the Wieliczka Mine. In the latter half of the 15th century, the profits drawn from the Mine allowed for restoration and development of the Wawel Castle. This was also the time, when the Mine expanded downwards in search for more abundant salt deposits and when new methods of exploitation were introduced.

The royal management of he Krakow mines ended with the First Partitioning of Poland in 1772. In the history of the mine, the Austrian rule meant not only changes in organisation and administration but also introduction of new mining methods brought by the wave of arriving mining experts. The long Austrian rule was favourable for the technical condition of the mine and brought it stabilisation. That was the period when the city developed: a power plant started to operate by the mine, and a regular train connection with Krakow was established. The underground work became more automated: hand drills were replaced by pneumatic ones, a salt mill and a steam lift came into operation.

Also repair and carpentry workshops working for the Mine were opened. In 1912 a new mechanic salt-making plant was opened on the surface. After slight modifications it still continues to produce table salt.
For the Mine, the period between the two world wars was a period of stabilisation, further development of the Mine not only in its productive but also tourist and restorative capacities.

The restorative properties of salt deserve proper attention. They were discovered by the humanists already in the 16th century. They believed that, mixed with other substances, salt cures snake bites, warts, ulcers, throat conditions, gout, and numerous other illnesses.

Wieliczka, where brine baths were begun to be used as a form of treatment already in 1826, has its chapter also in the development of 19th-century balneology. Thanks to the Mine's physician, Feliks Boczkowski, the baths, treating as many as 36 illnesses ranging from running nose to infertility, and from hysteria to 'failures resulting from excesses in love', were established in 1839. There must have been plenty of those 'exceeding in love,' as over 3,000 persons were treated in the resort over the period of 20 years. Treatment through bathing in brine lost its popularity after the death of doctor Boczkowski in 1855.

Yet therapy was soon reborn: in 1958, following the initiative of Professor Mieczyslaw Skulimowski, the specific microclimate of the underground excavations was used for treatment of asthma, inflammation of upper and lower respiratory tracts, and some allergies.

Founded by Professor Skulimowski, the underground health clinic is still operating.
The period of Nazi occupation meant an increased level of production. At that time Germans attempted launching production of parts for the military industry - generally this was a very difficult time for the mine.

The 1940s and 1950s meant increased production; the price did not matter. The exploitation of the central area of the mine, in the vicinity of the historic excavations, upset the balance of the rock formation and a significantly faster pace of destruction of the tourist route. The results of those irresponsible actions will long loom large over the underground heritage.

It was only towards the end of the 1950s that due to the alarming condition of some of the chambers of the tourist route, first steps to protect the mine were taken. Originally, they were funded by the Ministry of Culture, and later from the Preservation Fund for the Historic Mine in Wieliczka instituted by the Council of Ministers.

The Salt Mine in Wieliczka has always generated considerable interest. Already in the 14th century, as the site of salt production, it used to be shown to the privileged visitors of the royal court; later as a vast underground labyrinth of chambers and passages it was admired for its specific charm and mystery.

Towards the end of the 15th century, as the historical documents claim, tourist activity began in the Mine. Though the groups were not sizeable, and consisted solely of the elite of the contemporary world, the goal of their visits was to see and to learn. For the site was most unique: almost invisible from the surface, seen from the subterranean inside, it displayed its beauty in all its splendour.

The situation of the Mine in the vicinity of Krakow was a further advantage, as it encouraged visiting. At that time the Mine was visited by eminent humanists and scientists: Nicolaus Copernicus, Konrad Celtes, Joachim Rhetyka, and a Silesian poet Adam Schroeter to enumerate just a few.

The 16th century, the period of Polish humanism, influenced further the role of Wieliczka as a tourist site: visiting the mine concentrated on the culture and learning, neglecting the organisational aspects. Depending on their place in the social hierarchy, the visitors were taken to various places of work. At that time descent down the Mine took place through the Seraf shaft, constructed in 1442 and equipped with wooden stairs. Among the guests to the mine of that time were: the Papal Nuncio Fulvius Ruggierri (1565), an envoy of the Republic of Venice, Hieronymus Lippomano (1575), and numerous VIPs from all over Europe. Yet still the tourist movement continued to be elitist.

The mining and resultant excavations could be admired only by members of the upper classes, and each time an explicit approval of the king was necessary. Such concessions were issued only occasionally which led the Mine's authorities to see the potential tourists as intruders dabbling with the production cycle.

A description of the Wieliczka of that time (1572) is to be found in the diaries of Jean Choisnin, a Frenchman accompanying the French royal envoy in his mission to Poland. He wrote that the mine is 'a subterranean place into where for half an hour must one be let down on thick and powerful ropes that can stand the weight of fifty men coming down. At the bottom, one may see huge cavities carved in the salt rock to resemble the streets of a city.'

The conditions of visiting the Mine improved after the Leszno shaft and its staircase had been built in 1744. The preserved books of guests prove that there were as many as a few tens of visitors to the mine every month in the last decades of the 18th century, while early in the 19th century the number grew to over 100 a week. The Austrian rule in the Mines meant a further step in the development of tourism, as the Austrians correctly estimated the scenic and educational values of the Mine, advertising it as one of the prime visiting sites of the Monarchy.

This was the time, when a number of historic chambers of the Level 1 were made available to the visitors. This gave birth to today's tourist route. The route was gradually expanded and covered new areas, including chambers and routes located on levels 2 and 3. A number of attractions were provided to emphasise the charm of the underground chambers and to make the visiting more agreeable.

The route was magnificently lit: in the Michalowice Chamber a huge chandelier was suspended: made of salt crystals it measured 5.5 metres (height) by 3 (diameter) and contained 300 candles. It was lifted by an old gear located in the Urszula chamber situated above. The visitors were accompanied by miners with torches, fireworks were displayed, and the most spectacular fragments of the excavation received grand illumination. Among the attractions were: crossing a bridge over a chasm, boating on a brine lake, a show of the so-called devilish ride showing miners being let down on a rope, and listening to the reverberating echoes of a pistol shot.

Located in the chambers and passages were obelisks, monuments and plaques carved in salt and devoted to members of the Austrian imperial family and Austrian nobles.
Lêtow, one of the chambers was turned into a ballroom, where the visitors could dance to the music played by a miner orchestra or to marvel at the production of the Krakow Wedding.

The latter half of the 19th century added another attraction to the route: 2.5-kilometre-long ride in ornamented horse-cars. The records book of that the turn of the 18th century includes the names of Tsar Alexander I, Emperor Francis I of Austria, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Frédéric Chopin, Jan Matejko, Dmitri Mendeleev, Boleslaw Prus, Henryk Sienkiewicz, and numerous other celebrities and VIPs.
The popularisation of the Mine by the Austrians resulted in its growing fame all over Europe; this fame was so great that an English course book in Geography included a detailed description of Wieliczka followed by no more than a short note that nearby lies Krakow, the former coronation city of Polish kings.

Early in the 20th century, another tourist attraction was added, namely, the Chapel of the Blessed Kinga, with its walls decorated with scenes from the Bible, shown in magnificent relief, and carved by miners-sculptors. The chamber is lit by chandeliers made from crystalline salt.

The dimensions of the chapel are as imposing as the beauty of the interior decoration. The height of the chapel is 10 metres, its length 54, and width 15. The 20th century marks the beginning of the Mine's advertising campaign in the press and calendars, including the preserved 'Krakow Calendar' of 1901, where we can see an advertisement of the Wieliczka Mine bearing testimony to the well-organised tourism. The conditions for visiting are defined here (during one visit up to 100 persons may go down into the Mine,) prices depending on the quality of lighting (there were four classes) are quoted, and days and times when the underground can be visited are provided. The offer includes even taking a souvenir photograph of the visitors. Between the two world wars, the Mine was visited by numerous political and civic organisations, as well as groups of school youth, and individual tourists. The tourists arriving at Wieliczka were greeted by a Miners' Band at the Railway Station.
The period of the Nazi occupation meant virtually no tourism in Wieliczka. The only visitors were the German VIPs and very few civilians.

The tradition, however, managed to survive the horrors of the war: in 1945 there were already more than 10,000 visitors to the Mine. The number continued to grow, and in 1955 reached approximately 200,000. Yet, the premises were not prepared to accommodate the ever growing number of tourists. The facilities in the tourist shaft (Danilowicz) were dated, the chambers and passages called for renovation...
The underground tourist route, a priceless monument of material culture heritage underwent a crisis in the 1950s: lack of own funds that would allow renovation and overhauls resulted in the need of applying to the central government.

Following the alarming reports of the management of the Mine, and the scientific and cultural pressure groups, the Mine received financial support from the government in the years 1959-1964. The funds were adequate to cover the current maintenance, provide electric wiring and an independent ventilation system for the historic excavations. At that time 16 historic chambers were secured. Side by side with the technical development, the tourist facilities were improved: additional ticket offices and a souvenir shop in the Wisla chamber were added in the 1970s: a general improvement in catering for tourism was noticed. Following years brought an increase in the number of tourists visiting Wieliczka: in the mid-1970s, the number of tourists reached 750,000 annually.

The institution of the Martial Law in 1981 was the factor that brought a long-lasting decline in tourism. Its tendency to redevelop, visible in the years 1984 - 1986, brought the number of tourists to the annual level of 600,000 was again halted by the overhaul of the Danilowicz shaft in the years 1988 - 1989.

A radical change in the perception of tourism, however, took place after the catastrophic flooding of the Mine in 1992. The disaster proved that the protective works must be greatly sped up and intensified, production of salt must cease (apart from the utilisation of the brine flowing into the underground cavities.)
The development and future of the enterprise, one the other hand, are perceived in the development of tourism and the wide range of activities related to it.
Nowadays the underground Tourist Route is visited by over 900 thousands tourists a year.

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