The fortified church in Viscri in Transylvania, also UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, was visited by 32,000 tourists last year, most of them being foreign tourists.
The number of tourists saw a spectacular rise. More and more visitors, most of them foreigners, are visiting the fortified church and the environs from one year to another. If there were 400 tourists visiting Viscri in 2000, we had more than 30,000 last year, which is a quite significant rise. Almost 9,000 of them have been accommodated in Viscri (…) Tourists are practically impressed by the lifestyle, the authenticity of the village, by the fact it still preserves the ancient traditions, handicrafts and local cuisine, said Caroline Fernolend, executive manager of Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation at the 9th edition of the Transylvania Tourism Fair, due in Brașov this weekend, March 11th -13th.
The foundation has a stall promoting several Transylvanian villages, including Mălâncrav village in Sibiu county and the with twiners, a handicraft quite popular around here.
We try to promote 86 villages in Transylvania, to find something authentic to make the most of it. We want to show Romanians these values: the fortified fortresses and churches in less known villages, the stone barns in Achita-Mureș, the Roma community in Mălâncrav who knows to plash dust bins, but also the cabbage cake which is not known all over Transylvania yet, she also pointed out, as quoted by Agerpres.
Viscri is still a small village in Brașov county, with no more than 500 inhabitants, from which only about 27 are Saxons.
Viscri is also known due to the great job in restoring done by the Mihai Eminescu Trust, the foundation patronised by Charles, the Prince of Wales. The efforts of the foundation covers not only Viscri, but many other Saxon villages in Transylvania such as Crit, Mesendorf, Mălâncrav, Saschiz.
The village hosts the Saxon fortified church, seldom dubbed as he most picturesque fortified church of the Saxons in Transylvania. The name comes from the German Weisse Khirche, meaning white church.
Unlike other Transylvanian fortified churches,Viscri was built around 1100 by the Szekler population and taken over by the Saxon colonists in 1185. This is the reason the church displays a plain straight ceiling rather than a traditional vaulted one. In the 14th century, the eastern section was rebuilt and around 1525, the first fortification walls with towers were added. In the 18th century, the church was endowed with a second defensive wall. During 1970-1971, the fortified church underwent major renovations.