Realized between 1853 and 1870, Franz Josef Gallery was built to make surface salt transport easier and cheaper. Formerly, salt was transported here, first in bags placed on horseback, then, starting with the end of the 19th century, with the help of wagons towed by horses.
After the cessation of the exploitation, Turda Salt Mine became an air raid shelter for the city’s population during the Second World War and later, between 1948 and 1992, a section of Franz Joseph Gallery was used as cheese warehouse.
Entrance to the Franz Josef Gallery, 1907
At its completion, Franz Josef Gallery was 780 m, but by the end of the nineteenth century it was extended by another 137 m, reaching 917 m.
The first 529 meters, or 280 fathoms of the gallery, as it used to be said (1 fathom = 1.89 m), cross brown-clay rocks, which is why this section was supported by 40-cm-thick stonemasonry. On the left wall of the gallery, there are pegs (stone plates), with an equidistance of 10 fathoms, to measure the length of the underground galleries.
Franz Josef Gallery, the salt portion
Through the passage in the salt gallery, the acoustics change, and the tourists are greeted by the presence of the karst formed into fine alveoli and salt efflorescence that line the walls.
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Experience the show and the magic of Turda Salt Mine faster with the online ticket.
