Discover these amazing sites!
Poland’s significant cultural and natural heritage contribution to the UNESCO World Heritage List comprises 17 sites. Among them are very well-known and valued historical monuments such as old town quarters in Kraków, Warsaw, Toruń, and Zamość; unique underground structures such as the Royal Salt Mines in Wieliczka and Bochnia; religious buildings and complexes, parks, and even the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork. The list also features some gems that may be less known yet are certainly worth discovering!
Learn here about the three sites most recently recognized by UNESCO – and let them inspire you to visit all seventeen!
Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and its Underground Water Management System
Tarnowskie Góry boasts Poland’s largest and most historically important lead, silver and zinc mine and an integrated underground water management system. It includes a pioneering water supply system, the largest of its kind in the world.
The UNESCO list includes 28 post-mining facilities, located mainly in Tarnowskie Góry and in parts of Bytom and the Commune of Zbrosławice. Historically and technically, they form a unit that combines the mining of silver, lead and zinc ores, underground drainage systems and the use of post-mining water for food purposes.
The historic Silver Mine in Tarnowskie Góry once inspired awe among the European aristocracy. and now does so for tourists from the world over. A marvel of mining engineering and a historical monument, it has the only underground tourist route in Poland that features vestiges of silver, lead and zinc mining.
Krzemionki Prehistoric Striped Flint Mining Region
Thanks to the unique underground architecture, perfectly preserved post-mining landscape, and scientific values of the prehistoric striped flint mines in Krzemionki near Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, they are categorized as an Archaeological and Natural Museum and Reserve. The mines from the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (around 3900 to 1600 BC) in Krzemionki are one of the largest and best-preserved sites of this kind in the world.
The most popular tourist attraction in Krzemionki is the underground route. Spanning almost 500 meters, it is the only such route globally that is open to visitors, who can also tour the reconstructed Neolithic settlement and take archaeological workshops and museum lessons there. In the newly opened exhibition rooms, a modern archaeological and natural exhibition is presented.
Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe
The beech forests of the Bieszczady National Park are on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of a larger entry under the name “Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe”. It joins Białowieża Forest as the second UNESCO natural site in Poland. The primeval survivors of the Bieszczady beech forests, located in the most inaccessible parts of the national park, were very carefully evaluated during a multifaceted assessment.