Wieliczka 2016

On 15th of February we (that means classes 3t and 3ad) went on a trip to the ancient and historic Wieliczka Salt Mine. Our teacher decided to meet us at 7.30 close to Bagatela Theatre. We took a bus and started our expedition!
At first we had to go down the stairs; we thought that it would be very simple, however the steps seemed to be endless. The descent took us approximately 1o minutes. Later we moved along the relatively narrow corridors. Luckily the underground passages were well- lit. They encouraged us to follow our guide. The salt mine is huge. There are nine levels, more than 2000 chambers and over 240 km of corridors. Throughout the years miners have built many chapels because their work has been very dangerous. There were many accidents; we heard that many people were killed by toxic gas-methane, lack of oxygen, fires, collapses. That’s why miners built so many chapels where they could pray and ask for a good death… The most beautiful place was Saint Kinga’s chapel-enormous, spacious and mysterious. There were sculptures carved in salt, great chandeliers with salt crystals and music…
The trip to the mine was unique. We learned more about miner’s work, threats, about the wooden devices or machines which were used there, about the horses which helped the miners, about the production of salt, about the past and the present!
Mateusz Talaczyński 3ad