Wednesday, August 3, 2022: Mora at Lake Siljan
Video:
Info:
Lake Siljan owes its existence to a meteorite impact 370 million years ago. The shape of the crater landscape which has a diameter of 55 km can still be seen from above. Nowadays there are three lakes in the original caldera. They were formed by the glaciers during the Ice Age, when the ice polished away the sediments that had filled the crater.
The Dala-horses are small, red woodden horses which are produced in this area.
The town of Mora has got 12,000 inhabitants. The name derives from the old Swedish word mor, meaning “wood with wet ground”. The area was inhabited even before the time of the Vikings.
Today Mora is an industrial town as well as a tourist town. The famous painter Anders Zorn was born in 1860 and spent most of his life in Mora. The town is well-known as the finish line of the Wasa-race which takes place every year in March. 15.000 cross country skiers run on a distance of 90 km between Saelen and Mora. The race has been taking place since 1922. It reminds of Gustav I. Wasa and his escape on skis from the soldiers of the Danish King Christian II. in 1521. The brutal dictatorship of King Christian was the reason why the Swedish people supported Gustav Wasa in his fight against the Danes. After two years of war Sweden became independent.
My opinion:
Lake Siljan is absolutely beautiful, but not very friendly. It is too cold for swimming in summer, and for fishing you need a boat. The town of Mora is worth visiting. If you are interested in arts, you will enjoy the Anders Zorn Museum. Not far from Mora you can visit one of the factories where the Dala-horses are produced.
Diary:
I am sitting at the bank of a lake, which is not difficult in Sweden. The country seems to consist of lakes. And woods. More woods than lakes. Today’s Lake is called Siljan and is situated 300 km north of Vaenern.
There’s a wonderful hiking trail along the lake, starting at a campground. Mora is nice. I spent a lot of time in the Anders Zorn Museum. He died more than a hundred years ago and was one of the most famous artists in Sweden. As he developed further painting skills during his life-time, there are always a lot of pictures in a special style – and some years later he painted completely different pictures. This development lead him from impressionistic landscape paintings to realistic portraits. For me this was very interesting to watch.
I liked the town of Mora so much that I walked there twice. Unfortunately there are no cruises in August any more, the season is finished.
For whatever reason there is a kind of melancholy lying over this landscape. Perhaps it’s because of the moore with the birch forests, or because of the dark water of the lake – I don’t know.