A Year in Pictures – Wieliczka Dwarf

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Wieliczka needs a bit of explanation. It’s a 13th century salt mine that was in continuous operation until 2007, when the double whammy of low salt prices and flooding caused it to close down. But it’s still a major tourist destination, because in addition to the miles of tunnels (178 miles, to be prices) — only a tiny fraction of which are open to the public — the saline lakes, the underground churches, and the incredible architecture of supports propping the place up, there are the sculptures: all carved out of rock salt, most of them by miners, and frankly kind of amazing. This is one of the dwarves that are said to haunt the mine, lurking adorably in the darkness.

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