2. • Viscri, formerly Giscriu is a village in Buneşti commune in Brasov
county, Transylvania, Romania. Withdrew from the highway
connecting Brasov to Sighisoara, Viscri village shelters one of the
most spectacular Saxon fortified churches, being one of the six
UNESCO World Heritage sites. The peculiarities of the settlement
have attracted the attention and benevolence of the Mihai
Eminescu Trust, a foundation sponsored by Prince Charles himself,
who renovated the church and some houses in the locality, giving
them something of the original splendor. The isolation, but also
the absence of other occupations besides agriculture, made the
project of Natural Wool Socks in Viscri initiated by the two
Germans established here in the late 1990s.
3. • The crocheted socks of old wool sweaters by women in the village
were initially given in exchange for food (sugar, oil or bread). As
the pile of socks began to grow steadily, with time the trocade
turned into a real project involving 125 women in the village. The
peasants knit about 10,000 pairs of socks, gloves, hats, sweaters
or felt slippers that arrive at the central warehouse in Naumburg
(Germany) where they sell all over the country, or at the
international café in Viscri
4. Placing
• It is a settlement from the plateau of Transylvania,
near Sighisoara, originally inhabited by Szeklers, then
colonized by Saxons in the 16th century. XIII. At
present there is a beautiful evangelical church,
fortified in the style of the fortified Saxon churches in
Transylvania. Situated between the two roads
connecting Rupea de Sighişoara and Medias, Viscri
village could be reached ten years ago by its own
means of locomotion. Due to its withdrawn position,
the most archaic costume from the 17th-19th
centuries was preserved here.
5. History
• Viscri is one of the most picturesque and, despite its size, not
very large, monumental Saxon peasant fortresses, which
includes among its walls one of the few Romanesque
churches of the 13th century. The seated position of the
settlement explains its relatively late appearance in the
documents. Only in 1400, the "Alba ecclesia" (alias Viscri)
appears in a register of localities to pay the tax due to the
episcopate, the county of Rupea (Kosd). In 1500, Viscri is
listed among the communes of the Rupea Chair, with 51
households, three shepherds, a teacher and two poor.
