The open-air museum Zorn's Gammelgård

Anders Zorn lived at a time when the old traditional farming life was beginning to be superseded by the demands of industrialization. Zorn was concerned to see how the conditions of life were changing and traditions were slowly vanishing. Ha also had a profound knowledge of the history of timber building technique. In 1914, he began to construct an open-air museum in order to preserve the local log building tradition for future generations.

Today Zorn's Gammelgård, as this open-air museum is called, consists of about 40 historic timber buildings, many of which date from the Middle Age. It is the largets and finest collection of old timber houses in Sweden. Here you have the opportunity to see how the Dalarna farmers lived in the old times, as you can go inside the furnished houses, barns and lofts.  Zorn's Gammelgård is beautifully situated on the shore of Lake Siljan.

The Textile Museum

In 1993, The Textile Museum was built next to Zorn's Gammelgård. Here the visitor can find fine examples of textiles and local costumes from the Mora area on display. The Mora costume is acctually the oldest known of all the many folk costumes in Dalarna. A special section is dedicated to lace making in the special form that it was done in Dalarna.

The Textile Museum was awarded the Wood Prize in 1996, the finest prize in Sweden for new buildings in wood.