Wieliczka Rynek: 29 dec
the salt mine is not a place i would have gone on my own, but one of the other guys really wanted to do it so i went; i'm glad i did. the mine has been in operation for over 800 years, and is still in operation today. we walked down 150 meters below the earth, went on a nearly 2 hr tour and saw less than 1% of the mine. the most amazing thing to me was how the faith of the workers was so integrated to their daily life. they built 4 chapels so that they could have Mass during the work day.
when i say made chapels i mean they carved out a cavern of salt and made the entire "room", the decorations, even the floor out of salt. all the work was done by workers, not outside artists. the only way to explain it is to show you these pictures and tell you to remember that everything you see is made of salt. the guide told us we could lick the walls if we wanted, one of the guys in our group never stopped licking the walls the whole time, he was licking it like it was sugar or something. at dinner he felt a little sick, i wonder why? presently there is Mass every Sunday at 8am, and you can get married in the salt chapel if you want. John Paul II even celbrated Mass down there at least once (and there is a salt statue of him to commemorate the event).
pictures:
1- the "king's chapel" - chandeliers made of 97%+ pure salt, floor of salt carved to look like marble tiles
2- the sanctuary, altar, crucifix, ambo, presider's chair, all carved out of salt
3- close up of crucifix
4- rendition of da Vinci's Last supper carved in the salt wall
5- salt statues
2 comments:
Matt, you are in our prayers. Hope all is going well on your retreat.
The Hudson's
Hey Old Man,
Enjoy your time in Lourdes. It is on my list of places to go before I die. Let me know what you think. Are you planning on going into the water?
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