Hinterdorf (Old Village)
On Gingerguide's self-guided Zermatt audio tour, Hinterdorf (Old Village) is a stop worth about ~30 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type historic
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Zermatt Zermatt guide
About Hinterdorf (Old Village)
Zermatt's old village core: a huddle of black larch-timber barns and granaries, many raised on stone discs against mice, that recall the farming settlement the resort grew from.
The Hinterdorf, the 'rear village', is the old heart of Zermatt, a cluster of more than thirty traditional timber barns, granaries, stables and houses in the building tradition of the Upper Valais. Most date from the 16th to the 18th centuries, built of larch, rich in resin and resistant to pests, their roofs weighted with heavy rock slabs and their wood darkened almost to black with age. Many of the storehouses stand on flat round stone discs set on wooden stilts, to keep out mice and rats.
These raised granaries, known in Valais as raccards, are a pre-industrial form of log-built store found across the region. Barns held hay behind a single door; stores had several doors, each family keeping its own locked section of dried meat and grain. A large communal granary near the church, built in 1853 by fifteen owners together on fourteen stone slabs, survives. Until tourism arrived after 1865, Zermatt was mainly a farming community, and the old core preserves that vanished world.
Did you know? The old village keeps more than thirty timber barns and granaries of the Upper Valais tradition, mostly from the 16th to 18th centuries, built of larch and roofed with heavy stone slabs.
How much time do you need at Hinterdorf (Old Village)?
Around ~30 min works well for Hinterdorf (Old Village) — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at Hinterdorf (Old Village)?
Yes — Hinterdorf (Old Village) made the cut as one of 13 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Zermatt. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Zermatt
Day 1 of the Zermatt in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Hinterdorf (Old Village)
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