Wieliczka is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, located in Wielicki powiat.
But Wieliczka also has an underground salt mine. The Wieliczka Salt Mine consists of 2000 excavated chambers. Features include a large chapel decorated with artwork, altars and statues - all carved from salt. There is also a museum, sports hall and rehabilitation and treatment center for people with respiratory diseases.
Wieliczka was inscribed in 1978 on the UNESCO World Heritage List of places with natural and cultural heritage of exceptional value to humanity. UNESCO describes Wieliczka as follows:
“This rock salt deposit in Wieliczka-Bochnia has been mined since the 13th century. Spread over nine levels, it has 300 km of galleries of artwork, altars and statues sculpted in the salt, a fascinating pilgrimage into the past of a great industrial enterprise.
