From here to Richiş, the guests of Transylvania Inns are greeted with the cuisine, the clothing and the enthusiasm of the people who shaped the untamed spirit of the Saxons, to discover the authentic traditions within the walls of the fortresses. Discover the project transylvaniaInns ment to promote Richis Village and the best of Transylvania. Read More
“Johann Schaas is the last member of the Saxon community in Richis. Saxons were invited to Transylvania in XII century by a Hungarian king. For over 800 years they managed to create a strong and organized community. They lived in peace with Romanians, Hungarians and Romani. Until everything changed. Find more in this video.” Read More
Prince Charles talking about sustainability and Transylvania’s mix of ancestral traditions, wildlife and capitalism affecting Europe’s last wild corner.
“The Transylvanian Saxons (or Die Siebenbürger Sachsen as they are known in German) are the most significant ethnic German group of Romania. They are part of the broader Romanian-German ethnic group (known in German asRumäniendeutsche) alongside the Bukovina Germans (indigenous to Bukovina, north-eastern Romania), the Banat Swabians (indigenous to Banat, south-western Romania), the Zipsers (or Zipser Germans; indigenous to Maramureș, north-western Romania), the Dobruja Germans (indigenous to Dobruja, south-eastern Romania), Read More
“I am documenting as much as possible before too many changes occur within this unique community situated within the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania. The Szekely are thought to be descendants of Attila the Hun who have followed a simple, traditional and sustainable life through the centuries. Their culture survived communism but will it survive capitalism? Since Romania joined the EU young people are leaving the village in droves to seek earnings in Denmark and Germany 10 times greater for the same amount of work received at home. September – It is not unusual to see whole fields slowly harvested using a hand held scythe. Produce is then gathered using a rake and loaded onto a horse drawn cart. Read More
Transylvanian villages with fortified churches provides a lively cultural landscape of southern Transylvania. These villages theme are based on a specific system for cultivation of the land, a settlement pattern and organization by farms, preserved since the Middle Ages. The ‘burgs’ as the saxons used to call them, are dominated by their fortified churches, which illustrate building periods from XIII century until the sixteenth century. Read More
Transhumance has been practised in Transylvania for more than a thousand years, supported by tried and tested methods of pastoral animal husbandry. A high level of supervision is required by both shepherds and dogs to protect grazing flocks from predation by large numbers of brown bears and wolves that roam across the Carpathian mountains. Read More
The houses are the only ones to recall the fact that in the past, Richiş was a Saxon locality. Once, the centre used to quiver similarly to a German burg. But the Saxons’ exodus at the beginning of the 90s left it almost desert. Only a man refused to leave these lands, with a sort of predestined name to continue the Transylvanian Saxon tradition. Johann Schaas. He saw his friends, relatives, even his own children taking the road to abroad. But he does not regret any moment the decision taken. “I believe that here I am home. In Germany I might not feel so free. And I might not live all my desires as I can live here. If I were in Germany, I was thinking about going home and going to see the wheat.”
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There are next to us thesaurus people, who enrich us with their stories. Simple, jovial, hospitable people who share a story of old times and let us discover its mysteries in calm, while they return to the rhythm of their life, with its daily leisure and difficulties. They have gentle eyes, harsh hands by labour, patience and remiss muttering for anyone listening to them. They are too valuable for televisions or awards, because their wisdom is priceless.
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