Medieval Christmas Market in the Stallhof, Dresden

The Stallhof is the long courtyard behind the Fürstenzug mural on the palace wall, and you reach it in a few minutes on foot from the Frauenkirche or the Altmarkt. The courtyard was finished in 1591 for tournaments and horse games, and the organizer runs a medieval Christmas market there each Advent. About 50 traders sell goods made the old way, and craftspeople work with late-medieval tools and materials in front of you.

The market keeps loudspeakers and plastic out and turns the electric light right down, so the courtyard glows with fire and candles after dark. Musicians and jugglers perform daily on the stage. The covered arcade along one side gives you a dry place to sit, and part of it holds a long table that companies reserve.

In German folklore the Rauhnächte are the rough nights between Christmas and Epiphany, and after Christmas the market takes their name as the Dresdner Rauhnächte. A few stalls change, fortune tellers set up and costumed spirits walk the square in the afternoon. It's the one Dresden market that runs right through to 6 January.