zakopane ski resort

Zakopane has a flourishing folk culture with regular performances where visitors can enjoy the mountain customs, costumes, singing and dancing. The are several historic buildings including the oldest Catholic wooden church, built between 1847-1851. A visit to Tatra Museum (Muzeum Tatrzanskie) will provide an insight into life in this area with regional artefacts, native animals and amazing wood carvings. Located 10 miles southeast of Krakow, the Wieliczka salt mines are one of Poland's best-known tourist attractions. The mine has been operating continuously sinces its construction in the Middle Ages and well-preserved mining chambers and primitive mining tools and machines are on display. Today it reaches a depth of more than one thousand feet on nine levels with close to one hundred ninety miles of corridors, galleries, chambers and underground lakes. The mine currently has three distinct functions: as an active, working mine, as the world's first subterranean therapeutic sanitarium used in the treatment of bronchial and allergic asthma, and as an important tourist attraction for visitors to Krakow. People who tour the mine visit only the first three levels, along a winding route of nearly two miles. As they follow the subterranean paths, they wander past artistic salt carvings and the 17th century solid salt St. Anthony chapel, the oldest original creation in the mine. The largest and most ornate of three subterranean chapels is one that bears the name of blessed Kinga, the patron of Polish salt miners and the wife of Boleslaw the Bashful, the 13th-century Prince of the Krakow-Sandomierz province. The cavernous room, its altars and religious statues - even glittering chandeliers - are all carved in salt. In 1918, the chapel was wired for electricity and the crystal chandeliers were adapted for electric current. Mass is celebrated three times a year, on Blessed Kinga Day - July 24, Miners Day - December 4, and Christmas Day. The chapel is also used as a concert hall. The mine is open for visitors 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., mid-April to mid-October, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the winter months. The temperature underground averages 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Wieliczka attracts not only curious tourists, it has also been visited by crowned heads of state, international renowned personalities and celebrities.