Several hundreds of years of rock salt exploitation has shaped the spatial arrangement of its excavated structure. Lying on nine levels, concealed under the town, the mine reaches down to the depth of 327 meters. Subterranean Wieliczka consists of nearly 300

kilometers of corridors and almost 3,000 chambers.

The tourist route accessible to visitors includes a 3.5-kilometres section located from 64 to 135 meters below ground level.

In 1976 the Wieliczka Salt Mine was entered in the National Monuments Registry. Two years later, in 1978, the mine was inscribed in UNESCO's First World List of Cultural and Natural Heritage, and in 1994 it was acknowledged as the National History Monument by the president of Poland.