Higher up in the village of Zermatt, beyond the Monte Rosa Hotel (the first lodging built for early climbers and where you can take a historical tour), is the Hinterdorf, a warren of narrow lanes, weathered old wooden chalets, barns, stables, and storehouses.
These storehouses have large circular slabs of stone on the supporting posts to deter mice.
Buildings in the Hinterdorf date from between the 16th and 18th centuries, built of the particularly dense local larch wood and with roofs of stone slab to withstand the weight of snow.
