About 230 km North East from the capital Stockholm and 195 km North East from the historic city of Uppsala.Falun apart Nordic Ski is famous for its copper mines,they provide the two.thirds of the extraction worldwide.The former area of this important resources Falu Koppargruva have been declared UNESCO Patrimony heritage in 2001.
Falun River divides the city into two area,one side is where you can see the copper mines while on the other side there is the residential area.With humour some inhabitants of Falun call the side of the mines,ugly town and the centre on the other side nice and pretty.The town of Falun was built in the 11th century,when Sweden started a research of copper in this rich area in small scale,more than a city Falun was a village populated by the first miners and researchers.Two centuries later this centre was already famous to extract this precious mineral thanks a very intense extraction activity,the first agglomeration was in particular built with modest and humble houses hosting the miners.After three very productive and fantastic for the economy
for the economy of Sweden,which became an international power,covering different markets
about the exportation of this mineral,in 1641 Falun received from the Swedish Royal Family the title of city with the Royal Certificate "Sverige Stadsprivilegium".In this period Falun began to organise an urban plan,thanks to the copper industry the city reached a population of over 6,500 inhabitants and it was one of the most populous of the Swedish Kingdom.
In all the 17th century Falun flourished with the construction of a charming and captivating historic centre,coloured and picturesque houses,a pretty urbanisation of the streets,the city started to host German mine engineers,who gave a great support in terms of research and technology,that period is considered the golden age of Falun,the city became the World Capital of copper.Unfortunately in 1687,the city suffered a disaster,a gigantic landslide, which covered over 3 km miles diameter lack of planning on the farm.Today you can see Stora Stoten,the Great Pit one of the most important attraction generated by this disaster, 95 m depth and 400 m in diameter the view is really impressive thinking also what could happen if the workers were operating in the mines in that time.
The disaster did not cover human life,the workers in that period was on holidays,although a decline the following centuries developed Falun in a very important industrial centre,the city had the most modern industrial complex of this sector and of course the most trendy systems of extraction and further more the regional rail line works finished connecting Falun to Göteborg the second Swedish city.The exploitation of the mines continued until the end of 1992,today the city lives mainly about tourism,sport and some cultural events although the mines still provide a kind of copper called Falun red.
The most attractive area of Falun is the neighbourhood od Kopparberg,with its picturesque red houses called Falürod,curiously the name translated from Swedish language means Falun Red just like the mineral extracted in the mines,pedestrian streets and some interesting bars and cafes.Falun was in the 19th century one of the most visited attractions in Sweden,for its pretty historical centre and naturally for its economic productive value,a proud for the Scandinavian country.
The ancient appearance of Falun is currently,partially visible in three districts of the city,Elsborg,Gamla Herrgarden and Ostanförs.The most historical street is Falugatan dated 15th century,it is considered the symbol of the old city,also for importance because it links near the river the eastern area of Falun to the western.In the last 50 years was often remodelled and restored and today there is only a original ancient complex of houses the Körnerska Huset,a house which kept the original aspect.
Stora Torget is a wide square covered by cobblestone,the square where is located the Radhuset,the Falun Town Hall dated half 17th century,destroyed by a fire in the 18th century,the town hall was rebuilt using the same materials,only in the modern era the aspect changed with the addition of a second floor.In the same square you can see a building called Centralpalatset (Central Palace) dated late 19th century,although the building has had different kind of restoration is today one of of the most attractive building of Falun,a beautiful example of Nordic Art Nouveau,Selma Lagerlöf Swedish writer Nobel Prize lived in this building.
Stora Gruvstugan,this majestic yellow building is located on the mines side,its style Rococo a classic example of late Barocco in Scandinavia .Despite its actual aspect Stora Gruvstugan was erected in the late 19th century over a previous built in the late 18th century as headquarter of the mine offices and today host the Mine Museum,here you can admire the talented inventions by Cristhopher Polhem and an exhibition about Swedish coins,with an example of the largest coin found in Sweden.The museum apart the Mine Tour under request offers the chance to visit the section 65 m underground,a way to know better the Mine World of Falun.
Kirka Kpparberg,the church of the Great Copper Mountains is the oldest building in Falun,built in the 12th century is pretty well conserved, the nearest cemetery is another symbol of the city because is buried Fet Mats Israelsson a miner found after the disaster of 1677,the body of this man was re found after over 40 years,perfectly conserved and the wife re known him.
Kristine Kirka,the church of St.Christine is the main church of Falun.Built in the 17th century,the aspect of this church reflects the typical Renaissance Scandinavian architecture,using bricks for the structure and copper roof with a dome.The interior is very attractive with a wide nave flanked by high columns with arcades,one of the highlight is of course its organ made in the city of Orebro,considered one of the best example of Swedish organs and another one more modern of the 80s.
Dalarna Museum is another attraction,it is particularly important because in this building was rebuilt the studio of the famous Swedish writer Selma Langerlolf the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize in literature.It is very interesting to visit this museum to know better the history of this great Swedish writer so famous for her work "Nils Holgerssons,underbara resa genom Sverige" translated the wonderful travels of Nils Holgerssons,a wonderful story of a young boy visiting different area of Sweden and meeting animals,discovering new places. Selma Langerlolf wrote this book having inspiration from the works by Indian writer Rudyard Kipling.The Swedish School system adopted this work to teach the children geography,the world of animals and trying to transmit all the beauties there are also in your country.
Falun is an important Swedish University centre,Högskolan Dalama,this is the name of the College has over 17,000 students,it is a prestigious Institute in particular in the departments of Humanities,Science,Technology and business.The Dalama University is shared with the nearest town of Börlange.Thanks to that is a very young city,lively,with some festivals and events.Falun organises every year the FFF Falun Folk Festival,this kind of event started with the first edition in 1986 as a Festival of music but not long time ago was incorpored in this event also dance,further more other events worth a mention Rock City, Falun Festival the festival of the city,the Music Festival all celebrated in summer and some concerts.The Nisserska and Dala theatres offer a good quality of performances and the National Conservatory organises interesting activities as well.Other events in Falun are the Falun Hostmarkad the Autumn Market celebrated between the late august and beginning of September,a lively market with different kind of products,while every june is celebrated Falakasalet a great event consisting in a large market,music and different kind of shows.
Runddgama is a festival celebrated in winter in February it is a hym to the activities on the ice with exhibition of Skating and Curling on the Lake Runn,there is also a Summer Edition of Runndgama in august with music,boat tours and several show attractions.
Also cars and motorbikes are represented in events in Falun,Koppartraffen in July is a meeting of motorcyclists next to the famous Great Pit and in the same month,you can enjoy Falu Cruising a vintage car procession,with a large participation of locals and people coming from other Scandinavian towns.
This town hosted in several occasions the Nordic Ski Championship,the first Edition in 1954,twenty years later in 1974 Falun was the centre of this sport so loved in Scandinavia and Falun hosted other editions in 1980,1993 and it will be the Queen of the championship in 2015,further more this Swedish town is a classic stage every year about World Cup competitions and in several occasions it also host Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined too. Falun in several occasions was candidate to host the Winter Olympic Games, in three occasions,1984,1988 and 1992,but in all the nomination lost the title of Winter Sport Queen in the first the Olympic event went to Sarajevo,city of the former Yugoslavia,in the second to the French resort of Albertville and in the last to the Canadian city of Calgary.Gunde Swan,an idol of Ski Cross Country was born in Jarnaa Dalarma not far from Falun,he won 4 Olympic Titles and 7 times World Champion,more 5 World Cup.Sweden is a country with a great Cross Country Ski Tradition,apart Swan,other great champions as Thomas Wassberg,Martin Lundström,Nils Karlsson,Per Olofsson,Torgny Mogren,Thobias Fredriksson,Emil Jönsson and many other wrote the history of this sport,and all them very loved in Falun.
Ski and in particular Nordic Ski as I mentioned in Blogs about Holmenkollen(Norway) and Lathi (Finland)
is part of culture,in this part of Europe the skis are just like friends,people starts to use them in a very young age and to be famous in one sport is the dream of many children.
Sport is absolutely a highlight in Falun as in all Sweden,the prestigious tradition of Nordic Ski is a religion in this Swedish city just like in the Finnish Lathi or in the Norwegian Holmenkollen,every year the Ski Jumping complex of Lugnet and part of the centre host,which host the Ski Games are places full of passion for these sports,here you live a great friendly atmosphere,in Scandinavian country sport is culture,the competition is very intense but at the end it is sport,an activity links people,in that Scandinavian countries are on the top,here you can live this culture,finished a race or a competition,no polemics,no fights no bad comments,there is a great culture of sport here all finish with a great feast..
Apart the traditional Nordic Sports,other sports with good prestige are the Ice Hockey with the Club Falun Gavle which launches interesting players in a country where this kind of sport has a lot of fans and famous players playing in all the most important leagues of the World,Canada,USA,Germany,Switzerland,Kallur and Thomas Jonsson two legendary Swedish players of the National Team,who played in the NHL several seasons are from Falun from Falun are also the sisters Susana and Jenny Kallur,athletes specialists of sprint hurdles.Falun has a great sport tradition,Marcus Ljungqvist former professional cyclist and now Team Sky Manager is from Falun too. In the surrounding of Falun you can practise other activities such as cycling,mountain bike,trekking and also water sports in the nearest lakes,in particular in the Lake Runn where you can enjoy rowing and kayak as well.
Apart copper,sports,its monuments and cultural events Falun is also famous for the production of sausages,the Falukorv.This kind of sausage is produced in Falun since the 1870 when Anders Olsson had the idea to create this kind of sausage,a mixture of beef and pork meat with the addition of some spices and potato flour.The success of this gastronomic product derive from the ancient tradition of German immigrants and workers living in Falun,who transmitted how to prepare the Falukorv sausage.
In the 70s the Falukorv became a protected patrimony recipe of Falun,receiving the certificate TSG, it is used in different kind of traditional plates accompanying brown beans,prepared in the oven with grated cheese and served also with vegetables,mashed potatoes, mustard and other sauces,further more this sausage is also fried and served in sandwiches..A curious event about Falukorv is dated 1992 when in Falun a sausage of over 80 m was made and served for over 4,000 people.Today the Falukorv is exported worldwide,the flavour is similar to other smoked sausages from Germany and Denmark,preapred with mild spices,it is particularly excellent for its gastronomic versatility to be combined in different plates and it can be cooked in the oven,boiled,grilled or fried.
Falun is also famous for handcrafts,typical is the production of wooden objects,emblematic symbols and not only of Falun but of the whole Sweden are the Dala Horse and the Dala Maiden,these small figures have an ancient artisanal tradition,started in the 17th century,the objects are painted and decored with kurbits a local style to paint lines,curves and items.
Falun is served by the nearest Borlange Airport,with direct flights to Göteborg,Stockholm and also to the Norwegian capital Oslo.You can reach Falun from Stockholm and Goteborg by train or by bus,the train station is very close to the city centre.You can reach Falun by car in about three hours driving from the capital Stockholm.
Visit Falun is really very interesting,firstly because this town is an UNESCO patrimony site,further more you will know more about Swedish history and culture,I recommend if you visit Sweden to stop in here in Falun and in Dalama Region,it is a great experience in a great country.
Francesco Mari
Recommended Hotels in Falun
Hotel Bergsmastaren Carion Collection
First Hotel Grand Falun
Hotel Scandic Lugnet
Ditt Hotel Falun
Recommended Restaurants
Restaurant Bla Apelsinen
Restaurant Golden Palace (Chinese Cuisine)
Restaurant Tzaziki (Greek Cuisine)
Restaurant Mariann´s Saloon (Texan and Mexican Cuisine)
www.sweden.se
www.visitsweden.com
www.visitsodradalarna.se
www.falun.se
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