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Wieliczka Salt Mine gets one million visitors this year

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 24.11.2011 09:52
The number of visitors to the historic salt mine in Wieliczka near Kraków has topped the one million mark this year.

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The one millionth visitor was Małgorzata Kawińska, a Pole who moved to the Netherlands ten years ago and who is now touring her homeland with a friend.

She was given a red-carpet treatment, including a gift of a set of souvenirs, sculptures and cosmetics – all made of salt. She was also asked to put her signature in the Visitors Book, alongside such celebrities as Fryderyk Chopin, Duke Edward Windsor and the King of the Belgians Albert II.

Last year, the one millionth visitors came to Wieliczka on 30 December, an evident sign of the fast-growing popularity of the place. As in previous years, this year, too, the British top the list of foreign visitors (48.5 thousand), followed by Germans (35.2 thousand), Italians (33.9 thousand), French and Koreans. Since 1945 the mine has attracted 36 million tourists.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine was founded in the middle of the 13th century. It features a 3.5-km touring route for visitors that includes historic statues and mythical figures. There are also a large chapel, an underground lake, as well as a private rehabilitation and wellness complex.

In 1978 the mine was included in the original UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. (mk)

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