Ciechocinek’s Historic Graduation Towers Move Closer to the UNESCO World Heritage List
The next stage in the efforts to have the historic saltworks complex in Ciechocinek inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List is now underway. Today (21 August), Marshal Piotr Całbecki, Mayor of Ciechocinek Jarosław Jucewicz and Marcin Zajączkowski, President of Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek, signed an application requesting that the UNESCO World Heritage Centre begin a formal assessment of the documentation. This marks another step towards international recognition of our unique industrial heritage site.
“Inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List means prestige above all, but also new opportunities to secure funding for heritage protection, conservation and the development of Ciechocinek’s spa functions. We want the spa to serve not only patients from Poland, but also open itself up to Europe and the world. We are talking about heritage that is unique on a global scale, so our task is not only to secure the inscription, but also to protect this site from degradation and undesirable changes. I am pleased that, together with the city, we can consistently put this area in order and prepare Ciechocinek to make full use of the potential that UNESCO status can offer in the future,” said Marshal Piotr Całbecki.
The complex covered by the application includes not only the famous wooden graduation towers, but also the saltworks building, an underground brine intake, the “Grzybek” fountain and a pumping station. The entire nineteenth-century technological system is still in continuous use for the traditional production of edible and medicinal salt. Its most distinctive element is the graduation towers – the largest historic complex of its kind in Europe. Their modernisation was completed in 2023. See Ciechocinek’s graduation towers once again delight visitors.
The documentation will be submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris through the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“This is an important moment not only for Ciechocinek, but for the entire region. The graduation towers, together with the salt factory, the ‘Grzybek’ fountain and the saltworks, could become the second site from our region, after Toruń’s Old Town, to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List,” emphasised Ciechocinek Mayor Jarosław Jucewicz. “We have already done a great deal of work, and the next stage is to prepare the town and the entire area for appropriate protection and management of this exceptional heritage. I am pleased that, together with the regional authorities, we are taking concrete action, including work on the buffer zone. There is no other place in the world where salt has been produced using unchanged technology for almost 200 years. This is Ciechocinek’s unique value, which we want to showcase to Poland and the world.”
The documentation will now undergo a detailed assessment against UNESCO requirements. The formal review is expected to take between 12 and 18 months. A positive assessment will allow the process to move to the next stage: a visit by experts who will assess on site the state of conservation of the historic saltworks complex and the way in which it is protected.
The graduation towers, the “Grzybek” fountain and the Museum of Saltworks and Spa Medicine are administered by the regional-government-owned company Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek SA.
“This is a historic moment and the culmination of a long journey, with key milestones including the decision by the regional government to acquire shares in Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek in 2012 and the recognition of the complex as a Monument of History in 2017. It was then that intensive work began on preparing the documentation for the UNESCO World Heritage List,” said Marcin Zajączkowski, President of Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek SA.
“I am pleased that, at this stage, everyone can contribute to efforts to protect this exceptional heritage. The Ciechocinek graduation towers are, after all, an important part of the history of Ciechocinek and the entire region. It is important to me that I can support these efforts,” added Domicela Kopaczewska, Vice-President of the Management Board of Uzdrowisko Ciechocinek SA, who attended today’s ceremony.
Last year, by a decision of the Regional Parliament, the Regional Self-Government took over the historic brine swimming pool in Ciechocinek, which had been closed for more than two decades. See The Ciechocinek swimming pool: we’ve got it!.
Beata Krzemińska
Spokesperson of the Marshal’s Office
21 August 2026
