Wieliczka
a town in Poland; 9 miles S. E. of C Cracow; famous for its wonderful salt mines, which have been continuously worked since 1250. They consist of seven different levels, or stories, one above the other, connected by intricate passages and flights of steps, and in some places by lofty bridges, measure from E. to W. 12,468 feet, from N. to S. 3,117 feet, and reach their greatest depth at 918 feet. The annual production of salt up to 1872 was 37,000 tons, but since that date it has gone up to 80,000 tons.
Several of the disused galleries have been adorned with statues hewn in the rock salt, and two chapels have been excavated, in the larger of which the Mass is celebrated annually on July 3.
The chapels were injured by the inundation of 1868. Pop. about 8,000.