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  • EXCLUSIVE: This unique German castle can now be yours but it is not in the snowcapped mountains of Bavaria, instead, it sits on the golden coast of Florida. The stunning property was custom made by the Cramer family who owns the largest independent brewery in Germany. Dubbed the "Warsteiner Castle", after the name of the brewing company, it was built in 2004 in Melbourne Beach, Florida. The incredible home features five bedrooms, four full baths, two half baths and includes an in-law suite, a guest suite, a waterfall pool and a four-car garage. The 7,840 square-foot home is also being sold fully furnished. Built for entertaining with a media room and home theater, it also has spectacular views from everywhere in the home including a rooftop deck for star gazing and watching the rockets launch from Cape Canaveral. The "castle" stands as the landmark for the Aquarina Golf and Tennis Country Club, a gated golf community on the barrier island, which the Warsteiner company helped develop. The property also features unique German styling and interior design, made especially for the Cramer family. It even has a bar which was made from an imported metal barrel once used to brew the family's famous beer. The Warsteiner Brewing Company sold the property in 2015 to an American family who kept the property identical to the original owners. The current owners are now hoping to offload the home to someone who will enjoy its Germanic architecture. Warsteiner Brewery was founded in 1753 and is now one of the largest private breweries in Germany. The company is owned by Eva-Catharina Cramer after she inherited the family business. The property is being listed by realtor Dave Settgast. 17 Jan 2019 Pictured: Warsteiner Castle. Photo credit: Dave Settgast / MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342
    MEGA339836_004.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: This unique German castle can now be yours but it is not in the snowcapped mountains of Bavaria, instead, it sits on the golden coast of Florida. The stunning property was custom made by the Cramer family who owns the largest independent brewery in Germany. Dubbed the "Warsteiner Castle", after the name of the brewing company, it was built in 2004 in Melbourne Beach, Florida. The incredible home features five bedrooms, four full baths, two half baths and includes an in-law suite, a guest suite, a waterfall pool and a four-car garage. The 7,840 square-foot home is also being sold fully furnished. Built for entertaining with a media room and home theater, it also has spectacular views from everywhere in the home including a rooftop deck for star gazing and watching the rockets launch from Cape Canaveral. The "castle" stands as the landmark for the Aquarina Golf and Tennis Country Club, a gated golf community on the barrier island, which the Warsteiner company helped develop. The property also features unique German styling and interior design, made especially for the Cramer family. It even has a bar which was made from an imported metal barrel once used to brew the family's famous beer. The Warsteiner Brewing Company sold the property in 2015 to an American family who kept the property identical to the original owners. The current owners are now hoping to offload the home to someone who will enjoy its Germanic architecture. Warsteiner Brewery was founded in 1753 and is now one of the largest private breweries in Germany. The company is owned by Eva-Catharina Cramer after she inherited the family business. The property is being listed by realtor Dave Settgast. 17 Jan 2019 Pictured: Warsteiner Castle. Photo credit: Dave Settgast / MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342
    MEGA339836_018.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: This unique German castle can now be yours but it is not in the snowcapped mountains of Bavaria, instead, it sits on the golden coast of Florida. The stunning property was custom made by the Cramer family who owns the largest independent brewery in Germany. Dubbed the "Warsteiner Castle", after the name of the brewing company, it was built in 2004 in Melbourne Beach, Florida. The incredible home features five bedrooms, four full baths, two half baths and includes an in-law suite, a guest suite, a waterfall pool and a four-car garage. The 7,840 square-foot home is also being sold fully furnished. Built for entertaining with a media room and home theater, it also has spectacular views from everywhere in the home including a rooftop deck for star gazing and watching the rockets launch from Cape Canaveral. The "castle" stands as the landmark for the Aquarina Golf and Tennis Country Club, a gated golf community on the barrier island, which the Warsteiner company helped develop. The property also features unique German styling and interior design, made especially for the Cramer family. It even has a bar which was made from an imported metal barrel once used to brew the family's famous beer. The Warsteiner Brewing Company sold the property in 2015 to an American family who kept the property identical to the original owners. The current owners are now hoping to offload the home to someone who will enjoy its Germanic architecture. Warsteiner Brewery was founded in 1753 and is now one of the largest private breweries in Germany. The company is owned by Eva-Catharina Cramer after she inherited the family business. The property is being listed by realtor Dave Settgast. 17 Jan 2019 Pictured: Warsteiner Castle. Photo credit: Dave Settgast / MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342
    MEGA339836_024.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: This unique German castle can now be yours but it is not in the snowcapped mountains of Bavaria, instead, it sits on the golden coast of Florida. The stunning property was custom made by the Cramer family who owns the largest independent brewery in Germany. Dubbed the "Warsteiner Castle", after the name of the brewing company, it was built in 2004 in Melbourne Beach, Florida. The incredible home features five bedrooms, four full baths, two half baths and includes an in-law suite, a guest suite, a waterfall pool and a four-car garage. The 7,840 square-foot home is also being sold fully furnished. Built for entertaining with a media room and home theater, it also has spectacular views from everywhere in the home including a rooftop deck for star gazing and watching the rockets launch from Cape Canaveral. The "castle" stands as the landmark for the Aquarina Golf and Tennis Country Club, a gated golf community on the barrier island, which the Warsteiner company helped develop. The property also features unique German styling and interior design, made especially for the Cramer family. It even has a bar which was made from an imported metal barrel once used to brew the family's famous beer. The Warsteiner Brewing Company sold the property in 2015 to an American family who kept the property identical to the original owners. The current owners are now hoping to offload the home to someone who will enjoy its Germanic architecture. Warsteiner Brewery was founded in 1753 and is now one of the largest private breweries in Germany. The company is owned by Eva-Catharina Cramer after she inherited the family business. The property is being listed by realtor Dave Settgast. 17 Jan 2019 Pictured: Warsteiner Castle. Photo credit: Dave Settgast / MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342
    MEGA339836_026.jpg
  • May 5, 2018 - Neustadt, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany - Participants of the 'Patriotic Hike' walk up the hill to the Haibach Castle, carrying German flags. The New Hambach Festival, organised by national-conservative and members of the new right, took place at the Hambach Castle. Organised by controversial CDU (Christian Democratic Union of Germany) member and AfD (Alternative for Germany) sympathiser Max Otte, it sees controversial speakers such as Thilo Sarrazin, Vera Lengsfeld and Federal spokesman for the AfD Jorg Meuthen. The festival was preceded by a 'Patriotic Hike' to the castle, which saw around 500 members walk to the castle. It was hassled by counter protesters at the foot of the castle. The original Hambach Festival in 1832 is seen as one of the main events leading to German unity and democracy. (Credit Image: © Michael Debets/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)
    20180505_zaa_p133_007.jpg
  • April 12, 2018 - Warsaw, Poland - The monument built for the victims of the Katyn massacre in Russia in which some 20 thousand Polish officers and Polish intelligentsia where murdere in 1940 by Soviet secret police is seen in Warsaw, Poland on April 12, 2018. On Friday Polish president Andrzej Duda will lay a wreath to commemorate the victims whose mass graves have been found by German forces on April 13, 1942. (Credit Image: © Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press)
    20180412_zaa_n230_1125.jpg
  • July 19, 2017 - Berlin, Germany - German Chancellor Angela Merkel awaits for the arrival of Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge at the Chancellery in Berlin on July 19, 2017. (Credit Image: © Emmanuele Contini/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press)
    20170719_zaa_n230_007.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_041.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_036.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_021.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_023.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_022.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_027.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_037.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_025.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_024.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_029.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_026.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_039.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_032.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_030.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_038.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_042.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_035.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_031.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_003.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_034.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_040.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_033.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_007.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_044.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_043.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_005.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_002.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_006.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_004.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_012.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_019.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_016.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_008.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_015.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_013.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_017.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_018.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_009.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_020.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_014.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_011.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_010.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
    MEGA124080_001.jpg
  • EXCLUSIVE: ***NO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NO NEW YORK TIMES, NO NEWSDAY*** Some homeowners plant elaborate gardens. Others splurge on tennis courts or swimming pools. Alan Wilzig prefers something a bit racier. In the backyard of his 150-year-old Dutch Colonial-style home in the Hudson Valley town of Taghkanic, he has built a 1.15-mile-long, 40-foot-wide, bidirectional racetrack — heavy on the hairpin turns and smooth as a billiard table — designed for high-performance motorcycles and cars. “You’re going fast enough to make your ass pucker,” Wilzig, 52, told The Post. “The f– ing hairs on your neck stand up.” The lobster-claw-shaped course is the only personal-use, professional-quality private racetrack in the world, according to Wilzig. It boasts nine turns, 80 feet of elevation changes, grass-covered boundaries and FoamAir fences outside the corners to soften the impact of going off course. (There have been four accidents on the track but no injuries.) Wilzig, who once made headlines for having co-owned a castle in Water Mill, LI, with his brother Ivan, describes the track as a “field of dreams for motor sports.” The impetus for it came in the late 1990s after a motorcycle-riding buddy in the Hamptons nearly got killed by an automobile; the idea of street-riding became increasingly unappealing to Wilzig. “After 100,000 miles of around-the-world motorcycle-riding without incident,” he said. “I realized it was only a matter of time before somebody pulled out in a fancy car and hit me.” Wilzig financed his property purchase with cash from the sale of the Trust Company of New Jersey bank in 2004. Long controlled by Wilzig’s father, Siggi B., who died in 2003, it went for $726 million. In 2005, Alan took his cut of the profits and bought the 275-acre spread upstate for $3.35 million. “I bought this property with the intention of building a racetrack,” said Wilzig, who served as the bank’s CEO and now focuses primarily on philanthropy.
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  • November 10, 2018 - Carlisle, Cumbria, United Kingdom - World War One Trenches recreated in act of Remembrance. Carlisle Remembers 1918 an event marking 100 years since the end of World War One sees the grounds of Carlisle Castle transformed into a scene from the the trench warfare of France and Belgium. Re-enactors playing the parts of British Tommies and German bring realism to the display. Along with the trenches created by a team of set builders who work war movies a replica World War One battle tank has been made entirely from wood. Tank crew with the replica tank. (Credit Image: © Stuart Walker/i-Images via ZUMA Press)
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  • BRATISLAVA, Sept. 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives at Bratislava Castle for an informal European Union (EU) summit in Bratislava, Slovakia, Sept. 16, 2016. The leaders of 27 EU countries want to showcase their unity and prove that the bloc is a unique project, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said upon arrival at an informal EU summit held in Bratislava Friday. (Xinhua/Andrej Klizan) (Credit Image: © Andrej Klizan/Xinhua via ZUMA Wire)
    20160917_zaf_x99_007.jpg
  • BRATISLAVA, Sept. 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives at Bratislava Castle for an informal European Union (EU) summit in Bratislava, Slovakia, Sept. 16, 2016. The leaders of 27 EU countries want to showcase their unity and prove that the bloc is a unique project, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said upon arrival at an informal EU summit held in Bratislava Friday. (Xinhua/Andrej Klizan) (Credit Image: © Andrej Klizan/Xinhua via ZUMA Wire)
    20160917_zaf_x99_007.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_003.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_027.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_026.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_025.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_024.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_023.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_022.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_021.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_020.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_019.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_018.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_017.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_016.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_015.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_014.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_013.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_012.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_011.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_010.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_009.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_008.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_007.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_006.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_005.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_004.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_002.jpg
  • General view inside the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, in Wieliczka, Poland on September 2, 2017. The mine is one of the largest tourist attractions in Poland, registered on the UNESCO list and visited by over a million tourists every year. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. The mine is currently one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, whose attractions include dozens of statues and four chapels carved out of the rock salt by the miners, as well as supplemental carvings made by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 meters and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. In the 13th century, rock salt was discovered in Wieliczka and the first shafts were dug. The Saltworks Castle was built in the late 13th to early 14th century. Wieliczka is now the location of the Krakow Saltworks Museum. Many shafts were dug throughout the time the mine was in operation. Different technology was added such as the Hungarian-type horse treadmill and Saxon treadmills to haul the salt to the top of the surface. During WWII, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as ‘the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland’. In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites.
    606478_001.jpg