Mora, Sweden

There are signs of human activity in the surroundings of Mora dating from 4000 BC. The earliest found buildings in Mora are from the 7th century. Some of the buildings can today be found in Mora's open-air museum Zorns gammelgård ("Zorn's old homestead").

Mora parish was established in the 13th century.

In late 1520, Gustav Vasa stopped in Mora, in order to organize a rebellion against the Danish troops which occupied Sweden. The citizens of Mora first declined to help Gustav Vasa, but later changed their minds and sought Gustav Vasa when he was about to cross the Norwegian border. According to the legend two men from Mora (Lars Jakobsson and Engelbrekt Jonsson) caught up with Gustav Vasa in Sälen and told him his people would now fight with him. The rebellion managed to overthrow the Danish government in Sweden and Gustav Vasa was installed as king of Sweden.

In the 17th century, it was the location of the famous Mora witch trial.

During the 18th century the area around Mora was struck by famine, and many citizens abandoned their homes. Most went to Stockholm and southern Sweden where they learnt new craftsman skills. Returning to Mora they used their new knowledge to build up new industries. During the end of the 18th century and the 19th, cottage industries of clocks, sewing machines, knives and water taps were important to the economy. Water taps and knives are still thriving industries.

Mora is located between the northern shore of lake Siljan and the southern shore of lake Orsasjön where the Österdal River enters Siljan. Mora lies on the west side of Europe's largest meteor impact crater (Siljansringen).

The northern part of the municipality marks the beginning of the Scandinavian mountain range.

Mora has a cool and maritime version of the humid continental climate, where it is at the periphery of the northern zone. Non-subarctic climates in inland areas at north of the 61st parallel are very rare and can be attributed to the warming influence of the North Atlantic air masses. Being located at some distance from the four largest lakes, the Atlantic and the Baltic seas, Mora has a more continental climate than the major cities of Sweden, with relatively warm summers but with high variability between cold and milder winters. As of 2021, the mildest January was 1.9 °C (35.4 °F) in 2020 and the coldest −18.1 °C (−0.6 °F) during the record-breaking deep freeze of 1987.[2]

A Mora clock dating from 1834, with later painting on the case

Gustavian Mora clock are a type of longcase clock which were made in the town of Mora. Production began in the late 18th century and continued through most of the 19th finally succumbing to the increased competition from newer styles and cheaper mass production methods.

The town of Mora is well known for its craft products. A famous Swedish souvenir, dalahäst, a wooden horse, is produced in the village Nusnäs just outside Mora.

The high quality yet inexpensive Mora knives are made in Mora.

Steel production company Ovako has a production site in Mora.[5]

Mora is the terminus of the Mora-Uppsala Railway, also known as Dala Line.

• Christina Garsten (born 1962), social anthropologist

Mora as a municipality never received the title of a city (stad) before the local government reform of 1971, but as the population exceeds 10,000 the locality is today counted as a city by Statistics Sweden.

In the comic series Stand Still, Stay Silent by Minna Sundberg, Mora is featured as the "capital of Scandinavia".