By
the 16th century, the humanists in Poland began experimenting
with the restorative properties of the salt. The humanists believed
that salt (mixed with other substances) could cure snakebites,
warts, ulcers, throat conditions and various other ailments.
In 1839, the mine’s physician, Feliks Boczkowski, established
brine baths which were used to treat as many as 36 illnesses
ranging from runny nose all the way to hysteria. Over a period
of 20 years, as many as 3,000 people were treated in the brine
baths, but they slowly lost their popularity after the death
of Doctor Boczkowski in 1855.
A century later in 1958, following the initiative of a professor
by the name of Mieczyslaw Skulimowski, the specific microclimate
of the mine was used for the treatment of asthma, inflammation
of the upper and lower respiratory tract and some allergies.
