Day 11 Krakow Salt Mines
I was going to do day 11 as one post but after completing the blog on Auschwitz I felt that it deserved its own page. So, the remainder of day 11 was spent at the Salt Mines.
Salt was a very important commodity in the 13th centenary and was hugely expensive. So finding salt near Krakow led to Krakow becoming a key trading centre and a very wealthy town. As with most events in Poland there is a legend attached to the finding of salt here.
A Hungarian princess, Kinga, was about to be married to the King of Krakow. As a gift she asked her father for a salt mine. She threw her ring in one of her fathers salt mines before leaving for Poland and when she arrived she asked the people to dig a pit, they did and found salt; wrapped around the first salt crystal was Kinga’s ring.
The mine itself is full of sculptures (in salt) and are worth seeing. The most beautiful being the Cathedral chambers which has freezes carved from the salt, statues (including one of Pope John Paul II) and an alter.
A happy ending to a distressing day.
Salt was a very important commodity in the 13th centenary and was hugely expensive. So finding salt near Krakow led to Krakow becoming a key trading centre and a very wealthy town. As with most events in Poland there is a legend attached to the finding of salt here.
A Hungarian princess, Kinga, was about to be married to the King of Krakow. As a gift she asked her father for a salt mine. She threw her ring in one of her fathers salt mines before leaving for Poland and when she arrived she asked the people to dig a pit, they did and found salt; wrapped around the first salt crystal was Kinga’s ring.
The mine itself is full of sculptures (in salt) and are worth seeing. The most beautiful being the Cathedral chambers which has freezes carved from the salt, statues (including one of Pope John Paul II) and an alter.
A happy ending to a distressing day.
Wow. A lot to absorb over the last couple of days. Hope Budapest was a bit more relaxing
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