The Last Supper at Wieliczka Salt Mine – Wieliczka, Poland
This is a representation of Leonardo DaVinci’s Last Supper, carved in an underground chamber of the Wieliczka Salt Mine, located in the town of Wieliczka in Poland.
This piece of art is carved out of salt, in one of the walls of the underground cathedral. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, so that the carvings resemble unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that it is known for.
Most chambers in this mine are completely made out of salt, originally carved by the miners as they extracted the salt for production – walls, floor, stairs, ceiling, sculptures, everything…
The mine continuously produced table salt from the 13th century until 2007, making it one of the oldest operating salt mines in the world. In 1978 the Wieliczka salt mine was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
I did not know about this Norbert! I also encourage people to see the original in Milan – it surprises me that so few people go to Milan to see this extraordinary work. Be moved!!
Seeing the original one in Milan is on my bucket list. Although I haven’t personally seen it, I’ve studied Italian art somewhat extensively, so I too encourage people to see it.
This is great piece in Poland. I didn’t get to see the real piece but I see so many divince works and I like his stuff.
DaVinci was a great artist. I’m looking forward to see some of his works whenever I go to Italy.
When r you planning to go back again?
I really don’t know. But let’s see if I can add it as a quick stop on my RTW.
Very cool! From looking at it I would never guess it was carved from salt! Someone is very talented!
Most of the statues and pieces of art were carved by the old miners, but there are a couple pieces done by modern sculptors. They’re all talented.
Incredible! Crazy how that’s carved out of salt!
Yeah, I never would have imagined this was carved out of salt. Very impressive!
can you break a finger off if youre dish needs a little something?
pretty incredible piece of work. are there others or is this the unique one?
hahaha! Sure, why not! There are many pieces of art there. Inside the mine, at about 135 meters underground, there is a pretty big chapel carved out of salt… there are statue of Virgin Mary, Jesus, some “paintings” like the Last Supper, altar, chandeliers, statues of old Polish Kings… all made of salt. It’s crazy!
It’s the world’s most artistic salt-lick.
Lickalicious! Believe it or not, people do lick the walls of this mine… yuck!
That’s awesome! Amazing what can be done with salt..
I know! This mine is amazing! Everything is made of pure salt.
That is amazing! I’ve never heard of such a thing before. Regarding DaVinci’s original in Milano, there is a several month waiting list to see it. I was really disappointed this past May when I couldn’t just walk in and see it. If you want to go, make sure you give yourself plenty of lead time!
Thanks for the tip Michael. Wow, several months in a waiting list. I guess I should look for a spot soon! lol
its amazing the sculptor did this on salt. its really beautiful, i want to see this one and the original in Milan
I have some candleholders made out of salst but I think this beats them.
Hahaha… next step for you will be getting a table made of salt… ha! This place is crazy!
Awesome. Poland is so often underestimated as a travel destination.
I know… It is such a great destination but it is so underrated.
I guess if someone said they saw Jesus in the salt, they’d be correct.
Technically speaking… yes! haha!