Bochnia Salt Mine, Bochnia, Poland

The Bochnia Salt Mine is one of the oldest salt mines in the world and the oldest one in Poland. The mine was established between the 12th and 13th centuries after salt was first discovered in Bochnia, and became part of the Royal mining company żupy krakowskie (Kraków salt works).

The mine was closed some time after World War I. In 1981 it was declared a heritage monument. The site is one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, as designated October 6, 2000, and tracked by the National Heritage Board of Poland.

The mine shafts measure 4.5 kilometres in length at about 330–468 metres in depth below the surface, at 16 different levels. The August Passage is the main communication and transportation route in the mine. It runs from the east to the west of mine, connecting in a straight line the bottom ends of the Campi and Sutoris shafts. It is situated at a depth of 176m - from the top of the Sutoris shaft and the depth of 212m counting from the top of the Campi shaft. The August Passage was initially called the Long Stove. Its first part, extending between the Rabsztyn Chute and a Campi Shaft was built in the years 1723-1743, in accordance with a design by Jan Gottfried borlach. His great achievements was to regulate routes in the mine by ensuring their straightening and leveling. As a result of this, over the next decades, the August Passage was able to reach a length of nearly 3-km. Excavated chambers, shafts and passages form an underground town, which is now open to sightseers. The largest of the preserved chambers has been converted into a sanatorium.

The Ważyn Chamber was named after the name of the administrator Andrzej Ważyński. The deepness of this chamber, the biggest in Bochnia Salt Mine, is 248m, its length - 255m, its maximum width 14,4m and maximum height 7,2m. The chamber uses no supporting pillars. Salt from Ważyn chamber was extracted from 1697 until the 1950s.

In 2013 the mine was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as an extension of the Wieliczka Salt Mine inscription of 1978.

References:

Wikipedia

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Poland

User Reviews

Edward Smith (15 months ago)
Amazing experience, the tour guide was amazing and so interesting.

Oleksiy Starykov (15 months ago)
Althought the entrance price is the same as in Wieliczka, even more with the boat trip, the mine is not so interesting. There is a train and a boat, but there are still the same boring walks through the same paths during 4 hours. Multimedia things make the experience even less interesting. Still, it was worth to compare two mines and make a suggestion for friends, which one is to visit.

Paweł Stasienko (17 months ago)
Great place. The only place in the world where you can swim in a boat 250 metres below the ground or even play basketball there. You have to be healthy enough to keep up with the pace of the underground tour.

Andris Õunpuu (17 months ago)
Lot of walking in tunnels, english tours rare, fun old elevators and educational videos.

Peeter Kuus (18 months ago)
I was on polish group, so I got not much info. Best part of the tour : going into the deep unknown alone in the completely dark elevator! Just not a thing for claustrofobics. Sight itself: a bit steriile

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