C for Ciechocinek

The letter "C" in "My Polish Alphabet" is for Ciechocinek.

 

Ciechocinek /tche:hotcheeneck/, situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, is a spa town known for its brine sources and related to them graduation towers built 1824/1859.

A graduation tower is used in the production of salt. The process removes water from a saline solution by evaporation. The result is an increased concentration of mineral salts in the product. The tower consists of a wooden wall-like frame stuffed with bundles of brushwood. In Ciechocinek, the brushwood is blackthorn. The wigs have to be changed every 5/10 years. Anyhow, the saline water is pumped up the tower, then runs down the twigs and partly evaporates. At the same time, some minerals from the solution are left behind on the brushwood (1).

There are three graduation towers in Ciechocinek which are 15.8 m/52 ft high. The second one is the longest (719 m/2,359f t long). They are the largest graduation towers in Europe (there are smaller ones in France and Germany).

How it works
The brine solution goes from one tower to another and another, and the concentration of the brine gets greater and greater. The final product of the graduation towers' work is a 30 % brine concentration. From the last tower, the saline water goes by pipes to a salt plant where besides salt, therapeutic lye and sludge are manufactured (2).

The air is so incredibly good and healthy there! It contains several microelements that make breathing easy and clear the respiratory system very effectively. When we walked along the towers, we could feel how greatly our sinuses and lungs got cleared. It was sooooooo nice! 

During the stroll (over 2km/6,000 ft), we could see particles of salt accumulated at the bottom of the towers. Of course, we collected a few pieces as a keepsake. 

Salt of course

The base of the tower is made of oak wood

More salt

 

Inside the last tower, where the concentration of the brine is the biggest, there was an inhalation chamber. The entrance fee was 5zł. We climbed up the wooden wall and, for 30 minutes, sat there watching the brine solution going down the wall and inhaling the healing air. 

Brine going down the wall inside the tower

Salt collected at the bottom of the tower

Standing there, we could feel the brine solution dripping everywhere. The tiny drops refreshed the skin.

It was amazing how much easier breathing was afterward.

In the town, there are spa hotels. In one of them, they had a warm saline water pool, with currents massaging the body. The water is too thick to swim in it, so people just sat there enjoying the warm massage.

After visiting the graduation towers area, we went to see the nearby salt plant museum. Besides the old told used ages ago to make salt, lye, and sludge, there were some restored ancient pieces of gym-type equipment (called in the past therapeutic apparatuses).

 

It was another very, very long walk we did while visiting Poland. Afterward, our legs needed to rest, so  we enjoyed sitting in the town spa park.

 

All in all, due to the towers and the saline water going down the twigs, there is a very special microclimate in Ciechocinek.  I wish we had been able to can some of that local air/pack the tower with the inhalation chamber and bring it here to Texas...

Sources:
1. Wikipedia
2. Ciechocinek graduation towers 

You can find more letters of "My Polish Alphabet" here.