open today: 9am-5pm
open today : 9am-5pm
Mining traditions
The complex of Aleksandrowice I and II chambers connected by a gallery with Kaniów transversal gallery has been completely exploited in the 2nd half of the nineteenth and early twentieth century in two lumps of green salt laminated using techniques of manual notch and blasting. Their name refers to the nearby located small shaft, hollowed from the level I in several stages, starting in 1661 when a co-administrator of saltworks was Aleksander Sielski, Castellan of Gniezno and Pobiedno.
The exhibition is dedicated to the traditions of mining that has been shown in particular by the mining parade uniforms and weapons: swords, cutlasses and mining sticks. They presented old elements of mining costumes and accessories, introduced in a standardized way to Wieliczka from 1850, for example the mining officials’ hats. The overview of historical uniforms includes a sweatshirt with the so-called “skin” from the late nineteenth / twentieth century, uniform of Wieliczka salt mine foreman (about 1936) as well as headgear of miners and mining schools students, dress uniform of mining director and business uniform of the General Director of the mine. They exposed commemorative accessories owned by miners and engineers who worked in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Wieliczka salt mine, including Edward Windakiewicz, Michał Wacławik and Ignacy Markowski. You can see distinguished contemporary shakos bearing the insignia and colourful plumes, indicating the ranks of mining workers.
Together with uniforms you can see a presentation of archival photographs depicting the Wieliczka and Bochnia miners. The exhibition also brings closer the tradition of producing sculptures of salt in Wieliczka mine by miners, citing the most famous: the brothers Józef and Tomasz Markowski, Antoni Wyrodek and Mieczysław Kluzek. Noteworthy is prewar basrelief made of the crystal salt, showing Tadeusz Kościuszko sitting on horseback. The exhibition is equipped with multimedia devices, including a touch screen that allows you to make interactive exploration of different types of mining works in the Wieliczka salt mine based on the example of the view from the eighteenth century, and last but not least – some educational games.
Together with uniforms you can see a presentation of archival photographs depicting the Wieliczka and Bochnia miners. The exhibition also brings closer the tradition of producing sculptures of salt in Wieliczka mine by miners, citing the most famous: the brothers Józef and Tomasz Markowski, Antoni Wyrodek and Mieczysław Kluzek. Noteworthy is prewar basrelief made of the crystal salt, showing Tadeusz Kościuszko sitting on horseback. The exhibition is equipped with multimedia devices, including a touch screen that allows you to make interactive exploration of different types of mining works in the Wieliczka salt mine based on the example of the view from the eighteenth century, and last but not least – some educational games.
