Saint Barbara statue,Wieliczka Salt Mine. Salt sculpture of Saint Barbara,the patron saint of miners,in the Saint Kinga chapel in the Wieliczka Salt. Saint Barbara,who lived in the third century AD in a Greek colony in what is now Turkey,was canonised following her death as a Christian martyr. The salt mine at Wieliczka,Poland,is one of the oldest in the world. It was started in the 13th century and is still in use in the 21st century. By the 19th century,vast underground caverns had been excavated to depths of several hundred metres,including statues sculpted out of the salt deposits. In 1978,the mine became a UNESCO World Heritage Site |