Sweden is full of UNESCO World Heritage sites with quite a few of them just around Stockholm.  There’s Birka, the Viking Age town, there’s Drottningholm, a royal residence, and then there’s Skogskyrkogården. The woodland cemetery.

When I think World Heritage sites I think of historical buildings, or ancient towns, not cemeteries from the beginning of the 1900s.  But walking into Skogskyrkogården it becomes apparent just why it was chosen as a World Heritage site.  The landscape and buildings which comprise the cemetery grounds are amazing.  That it is just that, a cemetery, makes it even more impressive.

Cemeteries usually attract visitors because of the famous people buried there, but Skogskyrkogården doesn’t have much to offer on that front aside from Greta Garbo and some lesser known Swedes.  Yet, tourists still flock there.  Visitors come to admire the architecture of the chapels dotting the landscape.  They come to admire the centuries old trees and the beautiful Swedish setting.  They come to explore and mourn and contemplate.  The young architects who won the design contest nearly 90 years ago which led to the creation of Skogskyrkogården created a space which will stay with you.

During the summer and early fall, public tours are offered.  Prices aren’t prohibitively expensive, but there are better ways to explore the cemetery.  Download a guide from the website instead and discover the cemetery on your own.  Wander through the forest admiring the architecture that you stumble upon while you lose yourself in the century old trees and natural setting.