Discover the Zorn collections

Anders Zorn was born in Mora in 1860 and married Emma Lamm in 1885. Anders had an exceptional career as an artist. His reputation internationally, as well as his wealth, was primarily derived from his career as a portrait painter. Among others, he painted three American presidents. In 1896 Zorn and his wife came back home to Mora and the Zorn House. The Zorn couple had a great influence on the development of Mora, as well as the preservation of old traditions, music and ways of dressing. These had started to disappear at this time, so the couple made a large contribution to cultural history. In 2011 the Zorn Collections, which comprise the Zorn museum, the Zorn House, the Textile Museum and Gopsmor, are popular tourist destinations. In the museum visitors can admire Zorn’s magnificent paintings, etchings and other collections. For instance, his collection of silver is one of the largest in the country. The Zorn House is the Zorns’ home, preserved the way it looked when they lived there. The Textile Museum has old as well as more recent traditional textiles, regional costumes and embroideries on display, as well as exhibitions on this theme. Gopsmor is Zorn’s open-air studio by the shore of the Österdalälven river. Find out more at www.zorn.se

Vasaloppet
Vasaloppet is the world’s oldest, longest and largest ski race, the finishing line of which is in Mora. The first race took place on 19 March 1922. Since then the race has taken place on the first Sunday in March each year. There are many things about Vasaloppet that are unique. One is the length of the race, 90 kilometres, which makes it the world’s longest cross-country ski race. It also attracts the largest number of competitors, around 15,000 applications per year. It has helped to promote the popularity of skiing, which means that it is now possible to ski nine races within one single 10-day period in winter. More than 50,000 people apply to take part in the week’s races each year. Find out most of what there is to know about Vasaloppet at the Vasaloppet Museum by the finishing line in Mora. www.vasaloppet.se

 
Dalahästen
The Dalahästen wooden horse was first created in the villages around Mora in the early 19th century. It was originally whittled as a toy for children, but later it was appreciated as handicraft. Some people specialised in whittling the horse and were able to make a living that way. The horse became a commodity and was sometimes used as currency. The special painting became a signature for the Mora horse. A technique was developed using two colours on the brush which results in the world renowned coloration. Today there are three companies in Mora whose production to a large extent comprises Dalahästen horses. Why not visit them at www.grannas.com, www.nohemlojd.se, www.farnashemslojd.se.