# St Kinga's Chapel What to do en Wieliczka Salt Mine · Wieliczka Salt Mine Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/poland/wieliczka-salt-mine/things-to-do/st-kinga-chapel · Revisado: 2026-11-11 - Duración: 20 min - Para quién: All ages A church carved from salt 101 m underground, 54 m long, with reliefs and chandeliers made of halite. You see it as part of the Tourist Route. What it is St Kinga's Chapel is the largest chapel and the best-known chamber in the Wieliczka mine: a whole church excavated from a block of salt, 101 metres underground. It is about 54 metres long, 18 wide and 12 high, with a floor area of almost 1,000 m². Everything you see is salt: the floor, which looks tiled, the altars, the staircases, the reliefs on the walls and the crystals of the great chandeliers, made of halite. It cannot be visited separately. It is part of the Tourist Route, the classic guided visit of the mine, and the guide stops the group in it for a few minutes. The Miners' Route does not pass through here. Who made it and what you see It was excavated and decorated by miners, not academy sculptors. The chamber was opened in the late nineteenth century, around 1896, and the decoration work went on until the 1960s. Its main creators were three miners who taught themselves to carve: the brothers Józef and Tomasz Markowski and Antoni Wyrodek. Józef Markowski made the high altar, with the figure of St Kinga. On the walls, a series of reliefs tells the life, death and resurrection of Christ; the most photographed is the Last Supper. Miners today are still adding works, such as the statue of John Paul II. The salt of the figures is not white: it is grey, with veins, and against the light some areas turn translucent. Before salt, the miners built wooden chapels, but fires underground led to their being banned, and salt, which does not burn, took their place. The legend of Kinga Kinga, daughter of the King of Hungary, married the Polish prince Bolesław the Chaste in the thirteenth century. According to the legend, she asked her father for a salt mine as a dowry, threw her engagement ring into a well in Hungary and the ring turned up inside the first block of salt taken out at Wieliczka. That is why she is the patron saint of salt miners, and in the mine there is also a carved scene of that legend. When to go and how long It is a stop of a few minutes within a visit of two to three hours. What decides how you experience it is the time of day: by mid-morning the groups arriving by coach from Kraków coincide, and the chapel fills up so much that you can barely stop. The first and last visits of the day are quieter. The Tourist Route runs from 9:00 to 17:00 and down below it is 17–18 °C all year. The chapel is still in use: Mass is celebrated on Sundays, and also at midnight on Christmas Eve. If you want to attend, find out at the mine beforehand, because Mass is not part of the tourist visit. Tickets and how to get there You need the Tourist Route ticket, which is bought with a date, time and language on the mine's official website; prices start at 121 zł per person and children under 4 enter free. It is explained in timed tickets. The visit starts at the Daniłowicz shaft, a few minutes' walk from Wieliczka Rynek-Kopalnia station, where the commuter train from Kraków stops. Photos and behaviour You can take photos. It is a place of worship, so lower your voice if people are praying. The chandeliers and reliefs are not touched; the corridor walls are, and you will find they are made of salt. ## Cómo llegar y contacto - Coordenadas: 49.9835, 20.055 ## Cerca de aquí - [Karczma Górnicza](https://www.geocalia.com/en/poland/wieliczka-salt-mine/where-to-eat/karczma-gornicza), a 18 m - [Tourist Route through the mine](https://www.geocalia.com/en/poland/wieliczka-salt-mine/things-to-do/tourist-route), a 36 m - [Bistro Posolone](https://www.geocalia.com/en/poland/wieliczka-salt-mine/where-to-eat/bistro-posolone), a 72 m - [Hotel Grand Sal](https://www.geocalia.com/en/poland/wieliczka-salt-mine/where-to-stay/grand-sal), a 91 m - [Saltworks Castle](https://www.geocalia.com/en/poland/wieliczka-salt-mine/things-to-do/saltworks-castle), a 211 m - [Miners' Route](https://www.geocalia.com/en/poland/wieliczka-salt-mine/things-to-do/miners-route), a 464 m - [Hotel Salis](https://www.geocalia.com/en/poland/wieliczka-salt-mine/where-to-stay/hotel-salis), a 648 m - [Kraków, 10 km away](https://www.geocalia.com/en/poland/wieliczka-salt-mine/things-to-do/krakow), a 12.1 km ## Consejos ### Choose the first visit of the day You reach the chapel before the coach groups and can approach the altar without jostling. ### Look at the floor It looks tiled, but it is carved from the salt itself. ### Look at the chapel from the staircase From above, as you enter, you have the whole view with the chandeliers lit. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### Can you visit the chapel without doing the whole route? No. You can only reach it on the Tourist Route, with a guide and at a set time. ### How deep is it? 101 metres. The Tourist Route later goes down to 135 metres. ### Are Masses held in the chapel? Yes, on Sundays and at the Christmas Eve midnight Mass. They are not part of the visit: find out at the mine. Destino: [Wieliczka Salt Mine](https://www.geocalia.com/en/poland/wieliczka-salt-mine.md)