2. • Transylvania’s villages, the rural authentic Transylvania has become one of the most important tourist attractions
of Romania. Ironically, while searching for Dracula or Vlad the Impaler, people found another realm: the
profound, ancestral, unaltered Transylvania. They have discovered its customs, culture, history, and geography.
Europeans, Americans, Japanese, Australians, and many others have fallen in love with Transylvania, looking a
way out from stress, pollution, fast food, and the side effects of urbanization.
• In Transylvania there are about 300 settlements in which the Saxons live together with Romanians, Hungarians
and other ethnicities. The region of Transylvania is one of the places in Romania where traditionalism is
considered a lifestyle. Medieval architecture and rural scenery make Transylvania a beautiful and romantic
province.
• Besides the famous Saxon villages with their fortified churches included in the UNESCO World Heritage list,
specific to the German minorities in the Sibiu area and northwest Transylvania, several other villages deserve
the attention of the travelers passing through the Romanian countryside, where you can rediscover the village
life or get in touch with the local people’s simple lifestyle.
3. • Viscri. It is certainly one of the most beautiful and
probably the most famous Saxon village in
Transylvania, which benefited from the promotion
of HRH Prince of Wales.
• Here you can visit one of the most spectacular and
old Saxon fortified churches, included in UNESCO’s
patrimony. It dates back to 1225, and it still
preserves the initial fortified enclosure with an
irregular shape. The entrance is still used as a
meeting place for the Saxons staying in the village.
• Many households provide traditional products such
as syrups, jams, honey or other souvenir items
made in the same way for centuries. The village has
about 1,000 inhabitants and the community was
reborn after HRH Prince of Wales visited the village,
bought a house here and helped the restoration
process of the village through various local
organizations.
• HRH Prince of Wales owns many houses in different
Romanian villages, but in Viscri was his first. The
home is a UNESCO’s objective, which has been
restored preserving the traditional Saxon
architecture and nowadays it is a guest house.
4. Viscri’s surroundings are amazing so you can rent a bicycle
from one of the guesthouses in the village and start an
adventure on the gentle hills. The Transylvania bike route
crosses nine villages, even the town of Sighisoara, and most of
the route passes through the untamed Transylvanian forests.
5. • Rimetea Alba. Undoubtedly one of the
most beautiful villages in Romania, with
lots of attractions, both natural and man-
made. The ruins of a medieval fortress,
the only one in Transylvania that could
stand in the 13th century against the
Tatars’ attacks, can still be seen on the
“Stone of the Szekler”. There are two
more fortresses near this village: one at
about 3 km from it, which can be visited
after a difficult hike, as it is located on an
unconquerable cliff and the Trascau
fortress, built at the end of the 13th
century and abandoned after 1703.
• The village is famous for its white
houses, with strong Szekler and Saxon
influences. The oldest house in the
village, belonging to a miner, was built in
1668. Moreover, since 1996, 130
traditional houses were renovated in
order to preserve their appearance. The
oldest functional mill in the region, more
than two centuries old, can be visited in
Rîmetea. Also here can be seen the
family tombs dug in rock, unique in
Romania.
6. • Biertan. Biertan is a Transylvanian village with a fascinating history, that hosts a
superb medieval architectural complex, consisting of a late Gothic church built
between 1490 and 1520, and a fortification belt. In 1397, Biertan was certified as
“oppidum” (fortress) and in 1402 the fortified church was built. Over time, Biertan
obtained the right to hold a weekly fair on Saturdays, so the area began to
experience great economic development. From 1572 to 1856, Biertan was the seat
of the Saxon Epsicopter, therefore one of the most important fortresses in
Transylvania was built here, around the fortified church. Biertan Fortress entered
UNESCO’s patrimony in 1993.
7. • Cârţişoara. It is a superb
Transylvanian village located
at the foot of the Fagaras
Mountains, and the starting
point on Transfăgărăşan, the
most beautiful road in the
word according to Top Gear.
• This is the hometown of a
famous Romanian peasant,
Badea Cârţan. This peasant
fought for the independence
of the Romanians in
Transylvania, distributing
clandestine Romanian books
in the villages of this region.
he became famous after he
traveled to Rome to see the
Emperor Trajan’s Column. In
1877, he volunteered to join
the army to fight the war of
independence.
8. Discover authentic rural Romania
• The classical virtues, the morality kept and transmitted in time with
the help of popular teachings passed from one generation to the
other are the ones which kept the community together. Last, but not
least, the Romanian traditions are the main reasons which
maintained the beautiful authenticity of the Romanian countryside,
for which visitors from all around the world fall in love with.
