Christmas City Stroll

Christmas City Stroll

Tour begins at 1810 Goundie Welcome Center on Main Street 

Designed especially for the holidays, the Christmas City Stroll is a casual, comfortable walk (evening tours are led by lantern) through Bethlehem’s Historic District that explores the city’s 280-plus years of history starting with its founding in 1741. 

You’ll be led by a guide dressed in 18^th-century Colonial attire as you pass by historic landmarks such as the 1741 Gemeinhaus, the oldest building in Bethlehem; beautiful Central Moravian Church; built in the early 1800s; and the Colonial Industrial Quarter, widely recognized as the nation’s first industrial center, a thriving community of approximately 50 crafts, trades and industries during its heyday in the mid-1700s.

Did you Know? 
During the Bethlehem Moravians’ Christmas Eve Service in 1741, Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf led the congregation into the stable of the Moravian First House where they sang the hymn, “Jesus, Call Thou Me.” Following the singing of the second stanza, “Not Jerusalem, lowly Bethlehem, ‘Twas that gave us Christ to save us, not Jerusalem,” the Count named the settlement “Bethlehem.” Today the hymn is still sung on Christmas Eve in Moravian Churches.   

During the Stroll, you’ll learn about cherished Moravian and Christmas City traditions including the meaning of a candle in every window, beeswax candles, Central Moravian Church’s Community Putz, the iconic Star of Bethlehem atop South Mountain and the Moravian Star, an enduring symbol of the Moravian faith traditionally hung during the holiday season. Add in the exquisite Victorian and colonial architecture and two National Historic Landmarks — the Gemeinhaus and the 1762 Waterworks — and you have a holiday tour unlike any other! 

Please Note: This tour takes place outdoors. Participants should come prepared for walking outdoors, including navigating slight inclines and occasionally uneven pavements.