The historic Salt Mine in Wieliczka is the only mining site in the world functioning continuously since the Middle Ages. Its original excavations (longitudinals, traverses, chambers, lakes, as well as minor and major shafts) are located on nine levels and extend for the total of about 300 kilometres: reaching the depth of 327 metres they illustrate all the stages of mining technology development over time.
The quotation comes from the justification for entering the Wieliczka Salt Mine on UNESCO's First World List of Cultural and Natural Heritage, on September 8, 1978 together with 11 other sites from around the world. Indeed, the Wieliczka Mine reflects the progress of mining technology, the development of work organization and management, and the introducing of industry legislation since the Middle Ages.
Since times immemorial salt was the economic foundation of the state. In the times the of old in the Kingdom of Poland it was used as a legal tender, replacing metal coins. Initially, salt was acquired from brine springs through heating the brine and the vaporisation of water. It is not known when the excavation of rock salt began; most probably, during the digging of the brine wells, a salt deposit was discovered, and its excavation with primitive tools began. The contemporary Polish monarchs quickly realized what value the white ore had and introduced a monopoly on the mining and even the distribution of salt. They knew that salt was a most important commodity, as it was indispensable for survival. Large amounts of salt were needed for conserving meat, butter, and fish, tanning hides, and later also for the production of gunpowder.

The traces of the first plant in which salt was manufactured from brine date back to the Middle Neolithic period (3,500 BC) and were discovered in the area where the town of Wieliczka was later created. Historical records demonstrate that Wieliczka was the largest salt-making centre in the Malopolska as early as in 10th-11th century, and it was known as Magnum Sal, or Great Salt.
The Wieliczka salt deposit extends over 5.5 kilometres (East-West) and is between 0.5 and 1.5 km wide (North-South). During seven hundred years, 26 surface shafts and 180 smaller shafts connecting different levels of the mine were excavated. The mining of the salt bed started on Level I (57 m underground), and over time reached Level IX (327 m underground). 2,350 chambers and over 240 km of galleries were carved. Despite the water, collapse and gas threats, the Wieliczka Mine excavations are considerably more durable than those of ore mines, thanks to which chambers excavated at the end of the Middle Ages and the early modern era have been preserved to our day. In order to better protect the most valuable excavations, a historic zone has been delimited in the Mine. As of 2004, it embraced 218 galleries and 190 chambers at Levels I - V, over 20 of which are available to visitors in the Tourist Route (Levels I - III), and 16 at the Museum of Krakow Salt (Level III). The ongoing underground work aims primarily at protecting the Mine's historical substance. The Wieliczka Salt Mine has the status of a historic monument and is subject to legal protection. In 1976, the Wieliczka Salt Mine was entered in the National Monuments Registry. Two years later, in 1978, the mine was inscribed in UNESCO's First World List of Cultural and Natural Heritage, and it was acknowledged as the National History Monument by the decree of the President of Poland of September 8, in 1994.

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