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

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 in winter. Wooden huts open their doors to visitors, and a nostalgic cable car ride, each cabin adorned with twinkling fairy lights, travels above the 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

Dec 20, 2024Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland
Dec 20, 2025Red fox

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jun 14, 2024Peggys Cove Lighthouse, Canada
Oct 6, 2024Coyote Gulch, Glen Canyon Recreation Area, Utah
Jun 17, 2025Maritime forest in Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, United States
Feb 22, 2024Bathing boxes at Brighton Beach, Australia
Mar 11, 2026Peach trees in Cieza, Murcia, Spain
Mar 21, 2024Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
Apr 3, 2024Rainbow across the Kakshaal Too mountains, Kyrgyzstan
Mar 12, 2025Château de Sully-sur-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, France
Jun 30, 2025Wolfe Creek Crater, Australia
Jul 25, 2025Colourful houses of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Jan 21, 2025Eurasian red squirrel
Jun 27, 2025Splendid leaf frog
Mar 25, 2025European goldfinches
Sep 8, 2023The Circus, Bath, Somerset, England
Jan 28, 2024Channel Country, Australia
Mar 11, 2025Broken Beach in Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia
Jan 31, 2025Plains zebras, South Africa
Mar 25, 2026Juvenile manatees in a freshwater spring, Crystal River, Florida
Oct 8, 2024Mototi octopus
Oct 12, 2023Palouse region, Idaho, USA
Nov 21, 2025Harbour seals
Oct 25, 2024Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France
Apr 7, 2024North American beaver, Denali National Park, Alaska, USA
Jul 5, 2025Cize-Bolozon viaduct, France
Apr 7, 2026Beaver
May 16, 2025Great green macaw, Mexico
Aug 8, 2024Spotted owlet, Bangkok, Thailand
Apr 28, 2025Impala in Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana
Oct 25, 2025Martimoaapa Mire Reserve, Finland
Feb 11, 2025Yungang Grottoes, Datong, China