A rainy day in Sweden looks much like a rainy day in Minnesota,
which may have a lot to do with why so many Swedes settled there. Fall is in the air even though August
is barely half done. School
started on Monday and many of the tourist sites have closed for the
season. Apples are ripening on the
trees and the birch leaves are beginning to glow golden. It won’t be long before the
skiers trade in their wheeled road skis for the real thing.
We are still seeking out World Heritage Sites; historic,
cultural and natural places that UNESCO has marked as worth preserving. The Great Copper Mountain mining
area at Falun is the oldest known mine and the most important industrial entity
in Sweden. It has been worked
since the 8th Century and produced about 70% of the copper in the
Western world from 1600 to 1700.
Falu rödfärg, the red paint that defines Sweden
Copper from the Falun mine was used for the roofs of both
Drottingholm Castle and the Palace at Versailles in France. Falun is also the source of the ochre
pigment used to make ""falu rödfär" the red paint used on so many buildings
throughout Sweden.
