Tourists are more and more eager to visit the salt mine in Wieliczka. Last year nearly 1.86 million tourists visited the salt mine lying south of Cracow – it is up by 7 percent compared to the previous year.
“This was another record year in the history of the mine. We are glad that the admiration for Wieliczka reaches the furthest corners of the globe, promoting Poland in the world” the mine’s president, Zbigniew Zarębski, has told PAP. The biggest number of foreign tourists came from Great Britain (154,500), Italy (87,000) and Spain (84,000). Numerous guests also came from Germany – 79,000 and from France – 75,000. The Wieliczka Salt Mine was founded in the 13th century and has been a tourist destination since the 18th century. These days it is the largest underground museum in Europe which exhibits and presents all aspects of salt mining. The mine was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978.