The Matterhorn is sending out a message of unity and hope.
The Matterhorn, one of Switzerland’s most iconic landmarks (you might recognize it as the mountain on your Toblerone bar), has been illuminated over the past few weeks with flags of countries suffering from the coronavirus outbreak. It’s a heartening message of international solidarity at a time of crisis, and a show of seriously impressive lighting at the same time. (Featured image: @zermatt.matterhorn)
The jagged, triangular peak, located in the chocolate-box mountain town of Zermatt, is the most-photographed mountain in the world and lends itself surprisingly well to the light display. Maybe they’d like to host film nights once this is over?
The light displays began with the Swiss flag, although they’ve expanded the repertoire in recent weeks to feature flags from around the world each night. In beaming the flag upon the mountain, Zermatt stands with the afflicted country and sends a message of hope, that brighter times are on the horizon.
It’s not just flags that have made an appearance, though. The Matterhorn has also featured messages of hope, including “#StayHome” and “Dream now, travel later”, in an apparent nod to the wanderlust which endless shots of a spectacular Alpine scene tend to provoke. The most recent photo simply depicts the globe, recognizing that this is a global fight and that the combined efforts of humans worldwide are needed to pull us out of the crisis.
Touching stuff, isn’t it? You can keep an eye on the beautiful tributes on the Zermatt Matterhorn Instagram page.