The village of Richis in Romania has a rich cultural diversity, with inhabitants from 12 different nationalities. Originally populated by Romanians, Saxons, and Germans, the village now also hosts people from France, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, and America who visited and decided to stay. In the 1990s, the first foreigners to buy houses in Richis were a Dutch couple who were drawn to the picturesque countryside. They opened guesthouses and helped revitalize the village economy through tourism. The fortified Evangelical church in Richis dates back to the 15th century and has unique architectural features distinguishing it from other village churches in the area.

1. UNIVERSITATEA DE STIINTEAGRONOMICE SI MEDICINA
VETERINARA DIN BUCURESTI
SPECIALIZAREA INGINERIE ECONOMICA IN AGRICULTURA SI
DEZVOLTARE RURALA
PREZENTAREA SATULUI RICHIS
PROFESORCOORDONATOR :MIHAI STUDENT :FLORIN
DANIEL FRUMUSELU CATALIN PETRE
-2019-

2. To the south of Maramures, in Sibiu County, we recommend visiting the village of Richis.
This charming score belongs to Biertan commune, in Podisul Tarnavelor. A richly
populated village, Richis hosts not only Romanians, Saxons and Germans, but also
French, Dutch, Italian, Swiss and American people who visited and fell in love with the
picturesque charm of this areas that stayed here. In the area you can also visit the fortified
church of Rischis.

4. • Today, there are enough inhabitants of the village of Richis, Biertan, who talk about the
splendor of the place where they were given to live, and about the richness nature gives
to those who know how to cherish them. It seems that a short circuit has been
produced. It's actually an entire process. In recent years, more and more foreigners
have bought the old Saxon homes and moved to the village, fascinated by the simplicity
and picturesque old Transylvanian burg. Richis is today the village with the largest
cultural diversity in Romania: 12 nationalities in a locality with only 700 souls.

5. • Slowly, the aliens settled here reconditioned the houses, preserving the original architecture,
with the Saxon roof and structure, opened guest houses and guest houses with several
centuries old furniture and began telling locals how precious it is fact, what they would call
poverty: simple living, in the middle of nature, without modern whims. Slowly, these aliens
became locals and brought the village of Sibiu back to life. They opened shops, an information
center, started organizing translations and even a literary festival.

6. • The first foreigners arrived here, Timmerman's husbands in the Netherlands, bought their house in
Richis in the early 1990s. They had arrived in the village after they had made friends with a family of
revolutionaries from Medias for whom they had sent a social assistance package in December '89.
But when they saw the Dutch, the sunsets on the Richis hills, decorated with large straw hats, said
they must live in this romantic painting in old age. They returned home with this thought, they would
spend their pension in Romania.
• First they spent their holidays in the village, then, in 2008, they moved permanently to find peace and
to grow tulips on Romanian soil. Of course he would have reached their Dutch pension to pay the
sunset in Richis every night and stay so with the eyes in the sun but Tony and Gerrit Timmerman did
not stay; have made some guest rooms, have set the lawn for camping, and even, at the insistence of
the villagers, who have seen their households, bought the general store in the village and the bar.
• Rented the old parochial house in the village and arranged here a chic guesthouse respecting in
detail the picturesque tradition of the place and hired a cook in Richis for the tourists' experience to be
truly authentic.

7. The Richish Evangelical Church is a very special occurrence in the landscape of fortified churches,
perhaps also because it shelters a monastic order for a while. The monks were banished by the villagers
during the Reformation, and the church returned to the community. Basilica with 3 ships and no high tower
in the 15th century. The 14th century was defended by an enclosure wall with two defensive towers and a
guard road. What distinguishes it from other village churches is the rich ornamentation: the western portal
has five successive withdrawals, the ribbed ribs support columns and pilasters with capitals, the vault keys
are decorated with masks, and window moldings are treated differently. Another particular feature is the
double triumphal arch, a sign that it was originally intended to build a tower here.

8. Before Richis reached one of the most prosperous communes in the Medias county,
and before hardworking people founded the locality, the place was harsh and marshy.
Among the reeds, saucers and briers only wild animals lived. In memory of those times
was created the elegant lake of the commune, a graceful pasture through an infinite,
led by Luceafar under a red sky.