Stenberget (Stone Mountain)

While some house owners are content with landscaping their backyards with plants, garden gnomes, and perhaps a small pond, others set much higher goals. A perfect example of the latter was ambitious railroad worker-turned-brewer-magnate Christian E Nilsson a.k.a. “The King of Eslöv,” who in 1887 had the monumental Stenberget erected in his spacious yard. The structure, which resembles a truncated cone, consists of stacked rocks that were left over when Nilsson’s mansion was built.

A path spirals around the outer edge of Stenberget from the ground to the flat summit. Walking up to the top only takes a minute. From there you can enjoy the view of Eslöv Church as well as the rooftops of the grand neighboring villas including Nilsson’s former house (which today is a retirement home). 

Stenberget is reportedly modeled on Gustave Doré’s biblical illustration of the Tower of Babel. It’s said, however, that it was not only because of the structure’s aesthetic value Nilsson had it constructed, but also for one quirky practical reason—to be able to walk his dogs, Dicke and Jopp, without really having to leave home. Years later, when Nilsson’s pooches had passed away, they were buried under two small headstones at the bottom of Stenberget.

A few scenes in the Oscar-nominated Swedish 1982 movie Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd (The Flight of the Eagle), starring the late Hollywood actor Max von Sydow (best known for his role as the elderly priest in The Exorcist), were filmed at Stenberget.