Every design for Wieliczka

Wieliczka's Latin name was Magnum Sal, Great Salt, and the deposits beneath it have shaped the place ever since. The town lies in a valley between two ridges running from west to east, just south-east of Kraków, with the Wieliczka foothills to the south and the Bogucice sands to the north.

What sets it apart is that its best-known landscape lies underground. The Kopalnia soli Wieliczka, one of the world's oldest operating salt mines and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, draws visitors from everywhere, while above ground the Tężnia solankowa, a graduation tower, fills the air with brine and the Rezerwat Groty Kryształowe protects the crystal caves. The Zamek Żupny, now a museum, sits by the historic old town, itself listed as a national monument. And at Easter, Wieliczka is one of the last places in Poland where the Siuda Baba tradition lives on.

For anyone who grew up here, the map shows the streets above the mine – the climb out of the valley, the old shafts and the way home.