The Kłodawa Salt Mine (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

: ''Kopalnia Soli Kłodawa'', ''KSK'') is the biggest operating salt mine in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. It is located in

Kłodawa Kłodawa is a town in central Poland with 6,699 inhabitants (2014). It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been in Konin Voivodeship (1975–1998). Kłodawa lies on the Rgilewka (a tributary of the War ...

Koło County __NOTOC__ Koło County ( pl, powiat kolski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Greater Poland Voivodeship, west-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government ...

Greater Poland Voivodship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo wielkopolskie; ), also known as Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Wielkopolska Province, or Greater Poland Province, is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 o ...

History

In 1939 Polish professor Edward Walery Janczewski discovered geological layer of salt between

Izbica Kujawska Izbica Kujawska is a town in central Poland with 2,808 inhabitants (2004). It is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been in Włocławek Voivodeship (1975-1998). Archaeology In the Izbica forest on the ...

and Solca Wielka. It was 63 kilometres long and 4 kilometres wide. First drillings were done during

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and it was realized that Kłodawa is the best place to build a salt mine; it was also said that Izbica Kujawska had a good salt supply, but much smaller than Kłodawa. The first two mineshafts (called ''Michał'' and ''Barbara'', – named after the first director of the mine and

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Acc ...

), were built from 1950 to 1954. The salt has been drilled since 1956. Until 1966 horses were the main way to drill the salt, in this year the electronic traction drive was built. The third mineshaft, located about 4 kilometres from Michał and Barbara, is named ''Chrobry'' (after first Polish king,

Bolesław I Chrobry Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to: In people: * Boleslaw (given name) In geography: * Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, ...

). There is an underground touristic route in the mine, opened for visitors. It is scheduled to open the first underground sanatorium in Poland in Kłodawa Salt Mine. On September 7, 2012 the salt mine suffered from a fire.

Salt

There are different types of salt drilling in Kłodawa Salt Mine. All of them come from

Zechstein The Zechstein (German either from ''mine stone'' or ''tough stone'') is a unit of sedimentary rock layers of Middle to Late Permian (Guadalupian to Lopingian) age located in the European Permian Basin which stretches from the east coast of Englan ...

. The salt in Kłodawa is the only salt in Poland which is colourful (pink and blue) and colourful elements in

Wieliczka Salt Mine The Wieliczka Salt Mine ( pl, Kopalnia soli Wieliczka) is a salt mine in the town of Wieliczka, near Kraków in southern Poland. From Neolithic times, sodium chloride (table salt) was produced there from the upwelling brine. The Wieliczka salt ...

come from Kłodawa Salt Mine.

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klodawa Salt Mine Salt mines in Poland Underground mines in Poland Tourist attractions in Poland Koło County Buildings and structures in Greater Poland Voivodeship

History

Salt

See also

External links