Jukkasjarvi, a tiny, unassuming village in northern Sweden, has a famous and strange tradition.
Each year, the Ice Hotel pops up within its borders. More than 4,000 tons of ice were mined from the Torne River to create this year’s Ice Hotel, which took about two months to build.
Officially opened December 11, the hotel has 19 hand-carved «art suites,» each with a unique theme crafted by a different sculptor.
There’s also an ice bar, an ice church, a main hall with five crystal chandeliers, and sculptures on the hotel grounds outside.
If you’re going to see it, go now — it’ll be gone by March. Though other ice hotels hava popped up around the world, this is the original.
«Live Your Time,» a room sculpture by Javier Alvaro Colomino Matassa and José Carlos Cabello Millan, draws on the concept of time.
