Salt mine and wooden churches added to UNESCO list

The chapel of St. Kinga at the Bochnia salt mine. Photo: PAP/Stanislaw Rozpedzik

The mine in Bochnia was established during the 13th century, and salt continued to be extracted from the site until 1990, when the closure of its main customer, the Solvay works in Krakow, brought work to a close.

Among the most striking attractions is the 18th century chapel of St Kinga (pictured).

Bochnia's additition to the UNESCO list follows the inscription of Wieliczka salt mine near Krakow in 1978.

A castle in Wieliczka which functioned as the management headquarters of the former royal salt mine was also inscribed on the UNESCO list over the weekend, supplementing the mine itself.

Wooden churches

Meanwhile, eight wooden churches in southern Poland and a further eight in western Ukraine have been inscribed on the UNESCO list.

The churches were built between the 16th and 19th centuries for Greek Catholic and Eastern Orthodox communities.

Church at Kwiaton: wikicommons

The Polish sites are divided between the Malopolska and Podkarpackie regions, at Owczary, Powroznik and Brunary from the former, and Chotyniec, Radruz, Smolnik and Turzansk from the latter.

Several Roman Catholic wooden churches were inscribed on the list in 2003, also in Malopolska.

This weekend's inscriptions mark the first Polish sites to be added to UNESCO's list since 2006, when the Centennial Hall (1911-1913) in Wroclaw was singled out.
(nh)

Source: PAP/IAR