The huge graduation towers, (called teznie in Polish) are the wide, blackthorn hedges standing in Ciechocinek, Inowroclaw and Konstancin-Jezorna that were originally built to extract cooking salt from the brine springs in the region. However it became clear quite quickly that the microclimate created around them was extremely beneficial for health.

The oldest teznie in Poland, in Ciechocinek, were created as a result of the needs of those times. After the first partition of Poland, Austria took over the salt mines in Wieliczka and Bochnia and new sources of salt had to be found. It so happened that beneath Kujawy, between Ciechocinek and Inowroclaw, there happened to be a huge lake of brine.

The first two structures for the evaporation of salt from the brine pumped up from the ground were built in 1824 and a third was completed some 31 years later. It was not known then that they were the largest in Europe but their beneficial influence was realised even before their construction was finished.

The teznie in Ciechocinek seen from above resemble a horseshoe. They were built from almost seven thousand 16 metre long oak logs, stretching for almost 2 kilometres and set in a well maintained park. The brine water is pumped to the top of the construction filled with blackthorn branches, and then drips down for the sun and the wind to do the rest. A resulting salty mist, containing iodine, bromide and ozone wafts around the constructions and onto the people walking beneath them.

The teznie in Inowroclaw are shaped like linked together polygons. They are the newest and most modern ones. The 9 meter high structures dominate the Brine Park. During the summer, visitors come to marvel at the salt-loving trees, the carpets of flowers and picturesque ponds seen from the viewing terrace at the summit. At the base of the structures there is a mini-golf course and a bowling area.

In Konstancin-Jezorna, a small health resort not far from Warsaw and where mineral waters are extracted, the teznie were built in 1980. Konstancin is proud of the fact that the brine mist produced here is of the highest concentration in Poland. Inhalation of the salty air speeds up the healing of the respiratory system and the thyroid and also helps to stabilise high blood pressure. It acts as an antiseptic, soothes the nerves and augments the natural energy of the body. Healthy people take inhalation walks as a preventive cure to increase their body immunities. A few of the rather older and more elegant walkers sometime complain that the salt in the air settles on their hair and ruins their hairstyles.

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