The Sielec Chamber depicts the earliest origins of salt production in
the Neolithic Era, with miners gathering salt from salt pools The Casimir
the Great Chamber contains a bust of the Polish King who organized mining
law in the late 14th Century. The Pieskowa Skala Chamber is a beautiful
place, carved in bronze salt, and connect the 1st level mine with the upper
part of the 2nd level.
The Kuneguna Longitudinal contains statues of two dwarves. Beyond, at
the Kineguna Shaft Bottom are more dwarves and friendly mine spirits
that resemble ancient miners: crushers, carriers, cart pushers, and carpenters.
The Holy Cross Chapel is furnished with 17th-century wooden sculptures:
the Holy Cross, and Our Lady the Victorious. There are two figures of kneeling
monks by the altar; their contours have become hardly recognizable.
Next is the Chapel of St. Kinga. Figures of the Saint Kinga, St.
Joseph, and St. Clement, the patron of the Wieliczka parish adorn the altar.
The side altars are the Heart of Our Lady, and of the Heart of Lord Jesus.
There are side chapels of Our Lady and the Resurrection. The Herod's Verdict,
the Slaughter of Innocents, Flight into Egypt,
Twelve-Year-Old Jesus Teaching in the Temple,
A Miracle in Cana of Galilee, The Last Supper, and Doubting Thomas are
bas-reliefs decorating the chapel.
The Drozdowice Chamber contains sculptures of two miner-carpenters.
The Jozef Pilsudski Chamber contains a green salt statue of the famous
Polish statesman and soldier as well as a figure of St. John Nepomuk, the
patron of the drowning at the bank of a salt lake. Beyond one reaches the Stanislaw
Staszic Chamber, with a bust depicting the great Polish naturalist and geologist.
Beyond is a statue of the Treasurer Spirit, a friendly spirit of the
mine who traditionally warned against danger. The Witold Budryk Chamber
is named after a professor at the University
of Mining and Metallurgy at Krakow.
It contains a restaurant where visitors can rest and refresh themselves. The Warsaw
Chamber has a large band stand decorated with the logo of the mine
sculptured in salt, a stage, and a mezzanine. This is the place where mine
festivities, sports and tourist events, concerts and balls are organized. The Vistula
Chamber contains booths where snacks and souvenirs are available.
Descending to the third level, one reaches the St. John Chapel. The
chapel semicircular wooden arch is partialy inserted into the salty wall. On
the ceiling there is a polychromy showing the God Father and Son between the
clouds. The main altar is equipped with high class crucifix with the
ideological polychromy of Jerusalem
behind. The Jan Haluszka Chamber has a curious boat-like shape. Not accessible
to tourists, the chamber is used for formal meetings and receptions. The Izabela
Chamber is the venue of various exhibitions. Finally one arrives at the
bottom of the Danilowicz Shaft, decorated with an oil painting of St.
Kinga, where there is an elevator to the surface.