A graveyard as a tourist attraction? It might not be as uncommon as it sounds. What is more uncommon, though, is when there are no buried bodies. This is the forested area of Kyrkö Mosse in the forests of Småland in southeastern Sweden. It lies just to the west of the locality of Ryd in Tingsryd Municipality. What you will find here is a car graveyard with many many cars in different stages of decomposition.
A Short History of Kyrkö Mosse
Kyrkö Mosse was home to Åke Danielsson. He was born in 1914 and made for a long time a living by mining peat for local agriculture. His source for peat was the raised bogs of the area. In addition to peat, he established a scrapyard for cars here for additional income in 1940. The scrapyard was in operation until the 1980s and the cars were left here when Mr Danielsson left in 1991.
The cars have since been left as a car graveyard, which has met controversy with its environmental impact.
Things to Do and See
Walking along the forest paths will take you passed cars from the past. Car enthusiasts might even recognize many of the cars even in their current state. There are cars here dating back all the way to the 1930s, but not all are recognizable by the untrained eye.
How to Get to Kyrkö Mosse
- Flights: There are two airports nearby. These are Ronneby Airport (RNB) to the southeast and Växjö Småland Airport (VXO) to the north.
- Car: Kyrkö Mosse is located along Road 119 just to the west of Ryd.
- Bus: Buses from Kalmar Länstrafik connect Kyrkö Mosse with the surrounding area with bus stops in nearby Ryd.
The driving distance from 5 major Swedish cities, according to Google Maps:
- Stockholm – 496 kilometers (5 h 20 min)
- Gothenburg – 264 kilometers (3 h)
- Malmö – 167 kilometers (2 h)
- Linköping – 302 kilometers (3 h 20 min)
- Kiruna – 1727 kilometers (17 h 50 min)
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