The vast majority of the world's great monuments and historical sites are above ground, but in Poland there is a huge one underground.<\/p>\n
The Wieliczka Salt Mine began to be excavated in the 13th century<\/strong> near Krakow, in southern Poland. Today, this mine is world famous for the Chapel of St. Kinga, the largest underground church in the world (which I already told you about here)<\/a>, located 101 meters below ground. The temple, made entirely of salt, is dedicated to a 13th-century Polish saint who was the daughter of King B\u00e9la IV of Hungary<\/strong> and who was canonized by Saint John Paul II in 1999.<\/p>\n The Wieliczka Mine was excavated over 700 years and has over 290 kilometers of tunnels and more than 2,000 chambers.<\/strong> Currently, only a little over 3 kilometers of tunnels are open to the public, so most of the mine remains hidden most of the time. This week, the YouTube channel It's History<\/a> published an interesting video touring spectacular parts of the mine that are closed to the public<\/strong>, accompanied by one of the people in charge of guarding this historic site:<\/p>\n
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