Viscri, Brasov County – the village where time stood still

Located at about 90 km from Brasov, Viscri village has a population under 1,000 inhabitants and hosts one of the most spectacular Saxon fortified churches, besides being one of the six listed in UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999.

Documents reveal the village of Viscri was always a free community, never being part of a noble property. Around 1500, the village had 51 households, 3 shepherds, 1 teacher and 2 poor people. Today, Viscri is still a small village with no more than 500 inhabitants, out of which only 27 are Saxons.

The village became famous after Prince Charles of Wales bought a house here in 1996 and revamped it. The beauty of this place had the attention of ‘Mihai Eminescu Trust’, under the patronage of Prince Charles, which renovated the church and several houses in the area rendering the grandeur of the ancient times.

Viscri village has been the subject of several reports in the British press. ‘The Telegraph’ publication related in 2012 that the village flourished and became one of the favorite places for tourists around the world.

‘14,000 tourists have been visiting the village in 2012, among them French, Austrian, Swiss, Polish and English. Tourists visit the Museum, The Fortified Church or take long walks in adjacent villages, (Cri?, Roade?, Me?endorf) about 7 to 10 kilometers on foot. Because they are interested in tradition, they visit artisan workshops, talk to locals and eat only traditional food cooked in peoples’ households, because all they want is simple and tasty food. Locals want to keep their village traditions for as long as it takes. That’s what tourists want to find, simple things, long quite walks and unaltered traditions’, director of ‘Mihai Eminescu Trust’, Caroline Fernolend said, as quoted by Agerpres.

‘A number of 16 families put their houses on tourists’ disposal, creating 105 accommodation seats. Even one of Prince Charles’ houses will host tourists’, Caroline Fernolend added.

While in Viscri you can visit one of the most picturesque fortified churches in Transylvania, built in the 12^th century. Yet small, the Gothic Church of Viscri impresses by the magnificence of its walls made of roughly shaped stones and decorated with Saxon motifs.

After the village became famous, the houses’ price blew up. If a smaller house with two rooms was costing EUR 2,500 in 1996, in 2000, prices quickly reached EUR 20,000. Prince Charles paid EUR 15,000 for a four-room house, barn and garden. In 2010, a house in Viscri was sold for EUR 40000-45000, and now the price has reached EUR 60,000.