People have long been able and willing to justify the effort and time taken to create many amazing things in the name of religion and honoring higher powers. This faith and the things it can create are seen in the oddest of spots, including this salt mine in Poland, which houses a chapel with chandeliers that have crystals made of salt! They are a lot more durable than the ice chandelier that we saw in Sweden, and also throw a strange dusky night time light. In the eighteenth century, lead-cut crystal became much more common with the advent of new technologies, and people also found that it made great chandeliers because the light refracted gorgeously through the multifaceted crystals – however, salt does not behave the same way! Although, you can imagine how it would be a battle to keep the inside of a mine well-lit.

These chandeliers are in the Chapel of St Kinga, around 200 metres underground. The chandeliers are hung traditionally, with crystal chains extending from the top out to the ring, which holds the globes, and from there to the bottom piece, with a bit of chain left to hang for decorative effect. The crystals are really rustic, and give a beautifully juxtaposed effect – with the roughness and opacity of salt crystals in the confines of what is traditionally a luxury household item, and a trapping of the very rich.

The chapel also holds some intricate relief carvings in salt of various religious scenes, created in the early 1900s, and people come to ceremonies here, around three times a year, in a solemn, ancient and historical place…

Photo credits: Salt chandelier by Jessica Marshall, Salt chandelier by bregman

          

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