Salt mine in Soledar

The main wealth and miracle of the unique city of Soledar, Donetsk region in Ukraine, is deeply hidden underground. This is a real mine, but its difference is that it produces white gold here - salt.

The natural needs of the human body in the use of salt have led to the appearance at the dawn of human civilization of salvo-fishing. Until the 19th century in Central Africa, salt and gold by weight were valued equally. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the presence on the table of a white miracle indicated the prosperity of the owner. In ancient times, salt was considered not only valuable, but also a sacred object.

AndInterestingly, today 95% of the salt produced in Ukraine falls on the Artemovskoye deposit, located in the southeast of Donbass. The underground caves of Soledar are a system of a ramified multi-kilometer labyrinth, which was formed as a result of the extraction of salt. This mine is inactive, although salt is actively extracted behind its walls. When about 280 million years ago on this site was the Permian Sea. Therefore, welcome to the kingdom of "The Queen's Queen" at three hundred meters deep!

In salt mine Soledar everything is made of salt - walls, ceiling, floor. Artificial multicolored lighting is reflected from sparkling crystals. In one of the mines there is a church. It arose immediately after the opening of the enterprise. Since the work of miners is quite dangerous and involves constant risk, a church has been established to maintain the spirit of the workers. Going there, you will see a fine chandelier, which the miners themselves made. They decorated her saltcrystals that sometimes occur in salt formations. Approximately two and a half hundred of these crystal cubes were spent on finishing this lamp.

The most popular place in the mine is a huge tunnel, just surprising with its size. The height of the ceiling is 30 meters, the width of the tunnel is 14 meters, and the length is almost a kilometer! In the hall you will hear the sound of classical music accompanied by sounds of wildlife. Lighting - muffled, you get the impression that you are in space! Incredible! The air here is quite dry, cool, salty. Incredible silence ...

In the Soledarsky mine there is also a speleosanatorium. There is no noise typical for working mines, there is no conveyor with a trolley. This underground site is more like a fairy town with mysterious salt figures and palm trees, with rooms for rest.

Rock salt, in addition, is a good material for sculptors. Use miners, a catThey have a slope for the thread. They create from the salt fantastic heroes, little animals. Also interesting are salt lamps. Under the influence of temperature, the plafond saturates the air of micron salt, in miniature creates the effect of presence in the mine. Such lamps are used as a preventative against asthma.

Miracle Soledarsky mine is its acoustics. Therefore, every year here is held the International Symphony Music Festival, initiated and organized by the Austrian Embassy in Ukraine. About the sound of the orchestra, they say that the notes seem to fly upwards, and then slowly, like a cloud, drop down.