And then we were bussed to the salt mines. That may not sound all that dandy but it was a whole lot better than where more than a million people from across Europe were taken immediately on their arrival in the early 1940s – to nearby Auschwitz.
Mining for rock salt began in the region around 700 years ago, and one of the mines, Wieliczka, about 15 km south-east of Krakow, has become famous, receiving thousands of visitors a day. The reason is not salt per se, but that over the centuries, deep underground, the devoutly religious miners have carved religious figures and scenes out of the rock salt. Their piece de resistance is a complete church, the Chapel of the Blessed Kinga, measuring 54m by 17m by 12m high. Construction took 30 years and required the removal by hand of 20,000 tonnes of rock salt. The mine is now included on Unesco’s World Heritage Register.
Krakow was very fortunate to escape major destruction in World War II and it boasts the largest surviving medieval town square in Europe, along with other centuries-old complexes and buildings. It’s now Poland’s No. 1 tourist town and there were thousands of others strolling around or sitting in the perimeter cafes when we wandered through the old town square and made our way more than once to Mama Mia’s for what the Krakow Times restaurant reviewer credibly claims is the best pizza and pasta in town.
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