A seventeenth-century salt extraction shaft now serving as the main tourist entrance to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, descending 135 metres to level III.
Szyb Daniłowicza is a seventeenth-century shaft of the Wieliczka Salt Mine, sunk between 1635 and 1640 as one of eight new shafts then serving the mine. It takes its name from Jan Mikołaj Daniłowicz, who managed the mine as żupnik-leaseholder in 1640–1642. From its foundation it served as an important salt extraction shaft exploiting a favourably positioned section of the deposit.
From the late eighteenth century it also carried increasing numbers of tourists. Salt production at the shaft ended during the nineteenth century, after which it became exclusively a communication and tourist shaft. The original horse-driven wooden kierat was replaced in 1874 by a steam winding machine and a new masonry nadszybie building.
An electric winding machine was installed after the Second World War. The shaft was temporarily renamed after Archduke Rudolf in 1887 before reverting to its original name in 1918. It now descends to level VI at approximately 243 metres depth, and serves as the primary entry point for the Trasa Turystyczna, the mine's main tourist route.
Szyb Daniłowicza was sunk between 1635 and 1640, during a period in which eight new shafts were opened to exploit the Wieliczka deposit from three underground levels. The shaft was located in a particularly favourable position within the mine, allowing intensive salt extraction. It takes its name from Jan Mikołaj Daniłowicz, who served as żupnik-leaseholder and manager of the mine in the years 1640 to 1642, and who died in 1649. The shaft was one of the eight shafts in operation when the first mine plans were drawn.
From the beginning the shaft served as a production shaft drawing salt to the surface. Surface winding was performed by a horse-driven kierat enclosed in a wooden kleta. From the late eighteenth century, growing numbers of tourists descended via this shaft as Wieliczka became an established visitor destination under Austrian administration.
During the Austrian period the shaft was renamed. In 1887, following a visit by Archduke Rudolf, son of Emperor Franz Joseph I, the shaft was redesignated as Szyb Arcyksięcia Rudolfa. Following the restoration of Polish independence in 1918, the original name Daniłowicza was reinstated.
In 1874 the horse-driven kierat was replaced by a steam winding machine and the wooden nadszybie building was replaced by the current masonry structure. Salt production at the shaft ended during the nineteenth century, after which the shaft served exclusively for personnel access and tourist traffic. Following the Second World War, the steam machine was replaced by an electric winding installation.
The shaft has been deepened and modified on multiple occasions. It now connects the surface to level VI of the mine at approximately 243 metres depth, and has two compartments: a staircase section and a lift compartment. Visitors on the Trasa Turystyczna descend 380 steps through the staircase compartment to level I at 64 metres, then continue through levels I to III to a final depth of 135 metres, returning to the surface by lift. The tourist route covers approximately three kilometres and includes the Chapel of St Kinga and numerous carved salt chambers. The shaft today handles the largest volume of tourist traffic in the mine, with around 1.2 million visitors annually.