Newgrange
Ireland
Built in the Stone Age, Newgrange is a circular mound with passages and rooms inside—known as a passage tomb. Each year, for a couple of days before and after the winter solstice, a shaft of sunlight will pour in through a roof box at sunrise. There's a lottery to be one of the 120 people allowed inside Newgrange to experience it. (This year, 28,595 people applied.)
Stonehenge
England
Like Newgrange, Stonehenge is oriented around the solstice—just not at sunrise. The 5,000-year-old structure is perfectly aligned to the sunset on the winter solstice. (On the summer solstice, the sun rises over the Heel Stone.) Thousands gather to witness it.
Glastonbury Tor
England
Many believe that this man-made hill in southern England was built specifically to watch the sunrise on the solstice.
The Temple of Karnak
Egypt
More than 4,000 years ago, the Temple of Karnak was aligned so that light would floor the the Sanctuary of Amun at sunrise on the shortest day of the year. There are more than 650 other temples in Egypt built in a similar spirit.
Iran
"Yalda" means "birth" in Persian, and the longest night of the year is honored with pomegranates, watermelon and other traditional fruit all over Iran.
Chichen Itza
Mexico
On any solstice, the Pyramid of Kukulkán, also known as El Castillo, is where you want to be. While the true magic happens on the spring and autumn equinoxes, on the winter solstice, it appears that the sun is rolling up the side of the pyramid. There are similarly built sites all over the Mayan world.
Guatemala
In Guatemala and other parts of Mesoamerica, the Catholic festival of St. Thomas is celebrated on the winter solstice with an old Mayan custom known as the Palo Volador—the "flying pole dance."
Arizona and New Mexico
Sha'lak'o is a ceremonial dance of the Zuni tribe in New Mexico. It takes place on the winter solstice at the moment of "itiwanna"—the rebirth of the sun. (It has been off limits to non-native people since 1990.) A similar solstice ceremony called Soyal is celebrated by the Hopi tribe in northern Arizona.
Japan
On the solstice, it is traditional all over Japan to bathe with yuzu, a type of citrus, to welcome winter and ward off colds. The tradition is called toji.
Seventeen-Arch Bridge
China
For 20 or so days around the winter solstice, the sun's rays flood Seventeen-Arch Bridge at the Summer Palace in Beijing, China's capital. And, on the winter solstice itself, the Chinese celebrate Dōngzhì—the shortest day. It is traditional to eat tang yuan, a sweet soup with glutinous rice balls.
The Arctic Circle
In the Arctic, at noon on the solstice, the sun makes an ever-so-brief appearance.
