Żupy krakowskie was a Polish salt mining company which operated continuously from its inception in the 13th century to the late 20th century. It managed

salt mine Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations. History Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...

s and salt works in two neighboring towns (known as the Royal Salt Mines collectively), Wieliczka Salt Mine in

Wieliczka Wieliczka (German: ''Groß Salze'', Latin: ''Magnum Sal'') is a historic town in southern Poland, situated within the Kraków metropolitan area in Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. The town was initially founded in 1290 by Premislaus II of P ...

and

Bochnia Salt Mine The Bochnia Salt Mine () in Bochnia, Poland, is one of the oldest salt mines in the world and is the oldest commercial company in Poland. The Bochnia salt mine was established in 1248 after salt had been discovered there in the 12th and 13th centu ...

Bochnia Bochnia is a town on the river Raba in southern Poland, administrative seat of Bochnia County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. The town lies approximately halfway between Tarnów (east) and the regional capital Kraków (west). Bochnia is most noted ...

(city rights, 1253), as well as river salt ports on

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

and, only in the 17th century, a salt work in

Dobiegniewo Dobiegniewo is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Włocławek, within Włocławek County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It lies approximately east of Włocławek and south-east of Toruń Toruń is ...

. The company was created circa 1290 by the

Polish Crown The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (; ) was a political and legal concept formed in the 14th century in the Kingdom of Poland, assuming unity, indivisibility and continuity of the state. Under this idea, the state was no longer seen as the pa ...

, thus giving birth to the largest industrial centre in Europe until the 18th century, according to UNESCO, both in terms of the number of employees and its production volumes. ''Żupy krakowskie'' works ("Żupa" is the

Old Polish The Old Polish language () was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language. The sources for the study of the Old Polish language are the data of the co ...

word for salt mine) was one of the primary sources of income for the Polish Crown until 1772. For most of its existence, it was also one of the largest salt mining enterprises worldwide along with the Alpine salt mines in Hallstatt, Hallein, Hall and Berchtesgaden. It produced of over 30,000 tons a year. Notably, the castle of the ''Żupy krakowskie'' works in Wieliczka is the site of a museum established in 1951, called the ''Muzeum Żup Krakowskich Wieliczka''.

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Muzeum Żup Krakowskich Wieliczka
Mining companies of Poland 13th-century establishments in Poland Museums in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Museums established in 1951 Salt museums Mining museums in Poland History museums in Poland Salt mines in Poland {{Mining-company-stub

See also

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External links