As Christmastime approaches, Christmas villages appear all over Zürich. I visited the one at Sechseläutenplatz, right in front of the Swiss Opera House.
Before I even arrived in Switzerland, I knew that Zürich was famous for its Christmas village. Now that I am here, I am so excited to get to experience them myself! The Christmas villages have beautiful displays of lights, cozy places to sit and food from Switzerland–like fondue, sausages and chestnuts–and from all around the world! I saw dishes from Mexico, Thailand, the UK, Portugal and more.
The Christmas villages are a celebration anticipating, of course, Christmas. They begin in late November or early December and typically end on December 23rd, two days before Christmas.
The very first Christmas village happened in Vienna, Austria more than 700 years ago! Back then, it had no association with Christianity; it was just called the “December market”. Over time, they came to be associated with the Christmas holiday.
