The sun shines only 2 days a year at Martin's Hole, Switzerland

Martin's Hole, which is sometimes called a Sun-Window in a Rock is a natural 17m x 19m gap just underneath the jagged ridge of Mount Grosses Tschingelhorn (2,849 m), near the eastern Swiss alpine village of Elm, Switzerland.

It's formed when older rock layers pushed themselves up over younger rock layers. The hole gave rise to the legend of heroic Martin and the evil Giant - the hole was punched out when they had a boxing match.

The sun shines through this gap only twice a year: about 8 days before the start of spring (13/14 March) and 8 days after the beginning of autumn (30 Sept/1 Oct). The most anticipated moment is when, shortly before sunrise, the sun shines through the hole directly onto the Church of Elm.

Sometimes, the moon is also visible through it.

Photo taken 14th March 2012



Most of the time it looks like this