Transylvanian salty flavour - the Salt Mine in Turda

by Martyna Kocurek and Marcelina Ścierska
Gimnazjum nr 2 im. św. Walentego w Bieruniu

     Can you imagine Transylvania 13 million years ago? Climate was very warm and wet and the region was covered by the sea. Then climate got drier and drier, the disappearing sea left salt behind - the salt still remains. People tried to extract sodium chloride as long ago as in Roman times, but it was not earlier than in 17th century, when the salt mine in Turda was open. The salt mine functioned till 1932. Later it was used for storage of cheese or bombproof shelter during World War II. In 1992 it became a tourist attraction – one of the largest and oldest mines in Europe. We were lucky to visit it during our last project meeting.

Wieliczka Salt Mine (Poland): Deep into planet Earth.

During our recent visit to Poland in May 2015, we went on an incredible trip under the Earth, where we even  had lunch! Can you believe it?

   


There's such a place and it's called Wieliczka. Inscribed in the UNESCO world Heritage Sites List since its very beginning in 1978, together with other 11 places in the world, it's one of the oldest companies (not to say the oldest one) still running in Europe today. Its visit is like a quick look onto the history of this beautiful friendly country.
The article explains the mine from the point of view of a group of students, 15-16 year olds, who visited it as part of an Erasmus + KA2 project.
Enjoy the trip!

Link to the document where the article appears:
Wieliczka Salt Mine (Poland): Deep into planet Earth. PDF document.