Mountains are beautiful. But they can also leave you in the shade. Several corners of Switzerland are so well tucked away in Alpine valleys the sun does not shine on them for several months, reported SRF.
In the municipality of Oberterzen in the canton of St. Gallen the sun made its final appearance on Tuesday and will not return for around two and a half months.
Switzerland’s sunless corners lie mainly in narrow valleys that run east-west. When the sun is lower in the sky during winter it cannot shine past the mountain tops.
Oberterzen is not alone. The towns of Bergell and Vicosoprano in the canton of Graubünden, and the town of Bosco Gurin in Ticino all go without direct sunlight for two and a half months of the year between mid-November and the end of January.
Other sunless places in winter include:
- Glis in Valais (no sun from 12 November to 29 January)
- Hergiswil in Nidwalden (no sun from 10 November to 30 January)
- Cadenazzo in Ticino (no sun from 22 November to 18 January)
- Emmetten in Nidwalden (no sun from 30 October to 13 February)
- Schattenloch Nesslau in St. Gallen (no sun from 17 October to 26 February)
- Lütschental in Bern (no sun from 21 October to 22 February)
However, sunlight is often never far away. In some cases parts of the same town receive direct sunlight during these sunless winter periods.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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