Val Gardena, South Tyrol, Dolomites, Italy Dec. 20, 2023

Val Gardena, South Tyrol, Dolomites, Italy

The Val Gardena valley in Northern Italy is renowned as a tourist destination for skiing, rock climbing, and woodcarving enthusiasts. Don"t let the model village appearance fool you, Val Gardena is a real, yet magical site in the Dolomites of South Tyrol that transforms into a place known as Christmas Valley during the festive season. Wooden huts open their doors to visitors, and a nostalgic cable car ride, each cabin adorned with twinkling fairy lights, travels above the Christmas Village. During the 18th century, the valley became famous for its production of statuettes and intricately carved wooden figurines, which were initially crafted to decorate Catholic churches. Amongst those creations, the peg wooden doll emerged as one of Val Gardena"s best-known products and is still being produced today.

© Ingus Kruklitis/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Reflecting on Christmas
Dec. 20, 2024Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland
Dec. 20, 2025Christmas star lanterns, Germany

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Oct. 20, 2024International Sloth Day
Feb. 17, 2025Coll dAres, Catalan Pyrenees
Aug. 23, 2023Skógafoss waterfall, Iceland
Nov. 5, 2025Peña Roya beech forest, Moncayo Natural Park, Aragon, Spain
Jan. 18, 2025Dunes at White Sands National Park, New Mexico
Jul. 23, 2024Methoni Castle, Messinia, Greece
Aug. 21, 2025Wheatear, Peak District National Park, England
Jan. 25, 2024Snowy owl
Dec. 28, 2025Black-and-white ruffed lemur in Madagascar
Lighting the world
Oct. 10, 2023Mount Sopris, Colorado
Jan. 9, 2025Sossusvlei sand dunes, Namib desert, Namibia
Sep. 21, 2023International Day of Peace
Oct. 3, 2024Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
Dec. 24, 2025Christmas Eve
Feb. 5, 2025Scottish Blackface sheep, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Mar. 25, 2024Happy Holi!
Dec. 3, 2024Amber Fort, Amer, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
We can all just get along
May 21, 2024International Tea Day
Apr. 14, 2025Atlantic spotted dolphins
Jan. 17, 2024Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany
May 25, 2025Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia
The road less taken?
Jun. 8, 2024Canadian Grand Prix 2024
Aug. 30, 2023International Whale Shark Day
Mar. 10, 2024Daylight Savings
Feb. 28, 2024Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, England
Trusty water-shifters
May the 4th be with you