LOCATIONS

Copsa Mare / Grosskopisch

A free commune of the old Fundus Regius, Copsa Mare used to have some of the most vast and famous vineyards of the region, "The Wine Country". Two churches are mentioned as being used in this town. In the early 14th century, the holy service was recorded as being held in a three-nave gothic basilica; a 1283 document introduces the hypothesis of an earlier church.

Biertan / Birthaelm

The folks of Biertan, sensible people but with a tendency to be on the stingy side, claimed that the people of Medias, who were up to no good, had tricked them. The story goes that, long ago, representatives of the two burgs were sent to the King so he would decide which one of the two would be the capital for the seat of the county.

Merghindeal / Mergeln

The story we are about to tell happened in 1413, when Romanians of Tara Fagarasului had a terrible brawl with the Saxons around Sibiu. During the fighting, besides the regular deaths and casualties, it so happened that "some occasional killing of six females of Walachian blood occurred" (quibusdam homicidiis in sex personis femineis de Walachorum genere). The culprits were, in fact, some Saxons of Merghindeal...

Dealu Frumos / Schoenberg

"Merry is the wonderful stronghold that in time of peace [...]" This is how Dealul Frumos is mentioned for the first time in a written document. This 1280 document attested the acquisition of half the production of a mill in Stejeris by several greavi of Schonberg. A century and a half later, "the honest people of Dealu Frumos" had 67 households and a mill.

Iacobeni / Jakobsdorf

Despite the fact that it was mentioned for the first time in 1309, it seems that Jakobsdorf (the German name of Iacobeni) is one of the oldest Saxon villages in Transylvania.

Stejarisu / Probtsdorf

The settlement is first acknowledged in 1223 under the name of Probstdorf, meaning the "prepositus' village". The document attests to the fact that Stejerisu became property of the prepositus of Sibiu. Centuries later after the prepositus of Sibiu was abolished, the settlement became a free commune of the seat of Schenk (Cincu).

Viscri / Deutschweisskirch

Located on an unsurfaced side road away from the national road that links Brasov and Sighisoara, the village of Viscri is home to one of the most spectacular fortified churches of Transylvania. That explains the fact that this church is one of the six included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Bradeni / Hennendorf

The settlement is now called Hennendorf in German, Bradeni in Romanian and Hegen in Hungarian, but was first mentioned in 1297 under the name of Terra Heen and later as Villa Hegun in 1349. A 1350 document from Rome first mentioned the church itself by offering an indulgence for the church’s parishioners at the request of three local men by the name of Vasmuet, Andrei, and Herbord.

Apold / Trappold

Ceramic vases found in Apold and bearing little resemblance to those of the Saxons indicate that this settlement was inhabited even before the arrival of Saxon colonists.

Carta / Kerz

Alberic de Troisfontaines jotted down a story about Carta in his 13th century chronicle of a crusade written in Latin. He says that "in Transylvania (ultra sylvas), near Carta (Kerte), an evil scheme of the demons appears to have taken place.