Visit Salt Mountain is a geological marvel made almost entirely of this edible mineral.
Discover just how magical a salty world can be as you stroll through a former mining facility!
I'd like to take you on an unusual tour.
Salt mountain in Barcelona: article summary
When is the best time to visit Salt Mountain?
Cardona, the town where the salt mountain is located, is in the province of Barcelona, about 90 km northwest of Barcelona.
The easiest way to get there is by car. From Barcelona, it takes around 1 h 30.
You can also get there by bus from Barcelona. Several bus depart daily from Barcelona's Sants and Estació del Nord stations. The journey takes 1 hour and 46 minutes and costs approximately 13 € one way.
Visit the Salt Mountain Cultural Park
Salt Mountain Cultural Park is a massive formation composed mainly of potassium chloride, sodium and magnesium. The mine is in operation from 1929 to 1990. Seven years after its closure, they decided to open it to the public, to raise awareness of the importance of this natural resource, its history and the life of the miners.
The only way to visit the mountain is with a guided tour lasting one hour and costing €11 per person.
When you arrive, you are led to the entrance of the mina Nieves (snow mine) galleries. Surprisingly, the 120-metre-high salt massif you see is only a small part of the whole geological formation. In fact, the deposit descends to a depth of nearly 2 km.
The exterior of Cardona Salt Mountain
At the start of the tour, you are given safety equipment to wear. You can then explore 500 m of galleries 86 m underground.
The first thing you feel in this gallery is astonishment. Inside what appears to be a pile of salt, there's a whole world to explore.
It's amazing how nature can create such beautiful landscapes! The variety of colors and shapes makes this an underground temple.
See salt formations
This place is well worth a visit, as you have the chance to explore a curious geological phenomenon. The visit is suitable for allno matter what your age.
Bear in mind that the tour is only available in Catalan and Spanish. Nevertheless, Salt Mountain offers audioguides in English.
The history of Cardona's salt mountain
How is it possible that we currently find a formation like Salt Mountain in Cardona? To understand this, we need to go back 5.6 million years. By then, the Mediterranean Sea had separated from the Atlantic Ocean, and much of the water had evaporated.
As a result, a thick layer of salt appeared, but was hidden beneath layers of clay and rock. A few million years later, tectonic activity pushed the salt layer to the surface, forming this salt mountain at Cardona.
Salt Mountain is a must-see in Catalonia. This allows us to understand Cardona's history as a mining town and to study a rarely observed natural phenomenon.
How was the salt mountain formed?
The composition and concentration of dissolved salts produce the different colors and textures, giving us information about the order in which the rocks have evaporated and settled.
A mine was built and most of Cardona's citizens began working with salt in various ways: miners, bakers (making salted pastries) and salt sculptors. The impact of the mine on Cardona's culture is still palpable today.
During your stay in Cardona, I recommend a visit to Salt Mountain. The latter is a real geological curiosity and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the visit. What you need get off the beaten track and try new things around Barcelona.
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