Wapno - plener [1.]

Wapno, area Wągrowiec, a closed, former rock salt mine.

Photo: own technique - scanning the imprint on paper of the light sensitive layer from Fujifilm FP-3000B Professional Polaroid print (8.5x10.8 cm), Hasselblad 503CW camera, photo format 6x6 cm.

In the village of Wapno, located near W±growiec, mining began in 1828 and in the beginning gypsum was the raw material. After finding salt deposits in the village since the third quarter of the 19th century mining began to develop, which undoubtedly influenced the fate of the village in the 20th century. It was connected with a huge extraction of salt deposits in Wapno, which between 1950 and 1965 constituted almost half of the rock salt extraction in Poland. Risky exploitation led to a violent disaster, which took place on August 5, 1977 and caused flooding of one of the levels of the mine. This caused the creation of a sinkhole, which on October 28 began to gradually engulf the center of the village, residential buildings, part of the railroad station. 1,400 residents were evacuated. The mine, which had contributed so much to the development of the village, became its nemesis.