The most amazing thing about this underground church is not its
gigantic nave but that fact it was cut out of the huge block of salt.
Chandeliers, crosses, bas-reliefs, handrails and sculptures - all is
made of rock salt.
Many years ago, in the 13th century, Kunigunda (the only daughter of
Hungarian king Bela IV) got married the Polish prince. As the father
doted on her, she got a salt mine as a dowry from him.
For some reason, she threw her engagement ring into the mine (maybe she
was disappointed with its caratage?). The future husband then got on
the horse and left the future princess. So she had to move to the
husband's house without his help.
On the way to Krakow Kunigunda ordered her servants to dig a well to
change the water in her mobile swimming pool. But instead of the water
they discovered a salt layer. And the very first taken out block of salt
contained her ring...
Later she was canonized and since that moment has been considered a
patroness of all Polish salt miners. Pictured: the moment when the
servants pass the ring to Kunigunda. All the figures are cut out of
single salt blocks.
Some details are usually omitted in this story though. For example, at
the moment of marriage Kunigunda was only 5 years old and her groom was
13. And as she was mad about religiosity she naturally refused any
attempts of her husband to make her pregnant.
The first mention about these salt mines appeared in the documents of
Casimir I in the 11th century. At that time salt played a very important
role in the economics of the country as the profit from its sale made
up more than a third of the budget of Poland. Though the conditions in
which miners had to work were really awful. Till the 14th century they
dragged sacks and boxes with salt upwards by their own forces. And only
later, when the wheel was invented, they started to use carts and
horses.
By that time the salt mines had already been a very large net of mines,
galleries and drifts where simultaneously worked thousands of miners.
That's why kitchens, relaxation areas, different playgrounds and even
stables soon appeared here.
As for the horses, once got to the mine, they never left it anymore.
Some will say it's not humane to keep horses in such conditions during
all their life. But there is another point of view on this problem. Salt
air is very helpful for their health, and thus they usually live longer
here. Besides, it's not very different from their "upwards" life - they
quickly get used to the lack of light.
Nowadays tourists pay good money for spending at least a week in an underground health resort located in these mines.
But in spite of all the advantages, the underground life is fraught
with some dangers as well. One of them is methane being constantly
collected under the ceiling of the rooms. The more methane there is, the
greater chances are that a tiny sparkle will turn a cosy working room
into a cosy crematorium. That's why some centuries ago there existed a
risky profession called a "twisted firestarter" (In the picture above).
The principle of the job was very simple and deadly at the same time:
they crawled down the galleries holding a long torch in their hands and
burnt down the collected methane.
That was the first reason for building some churches here - it was easier to perform a funeral service right in the place.
At the beginning of the 15th century only a royal family and some
privileged guests could attend the mines as tourists. However, later it
became opened for those who had a written permission from the king
himself.
Casimir the Great. One can see many sculptures on his way while walking
down the mines. Some of them are quite outlined, while others are very
detailed and realistic.
When being on excursion one can ask the guide to turn off the light and
feel that desperate fear that one feels when being at 200 m underground
with no light but thousands tons of various rocks above. They say, many
interesting thoughts come to your mind at that moment. And any miner
can confirm it.
Many thousands tons of salt are still obtained in these mines annually.
Now several churches are located here. But the largest and the most
famous one is Blessed Kinga Church named after the devout medieval
princess we already spoke about.
Its chapel amazes with its size - about 50 x 20 m and the height is more than 10 m. Pay attention to all the details.
Everything is made of salt here! Gigantic salt chandeliers, sparkling
salt floor, three sanctuaries and two small chapels on each side. If you
are in Poland, you surely must visit it. A very interesting and
charming place indeed.
via estranic
No comments:
Post a Comment