Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Transylvania Highlights
Wandering the cobbled alleyways and fairy-tale squares of medieval towns
Braşov ( Click here ) , Sibiu ( Click here ) and Sighişoara ( Click here )
Exploring the Bucegi Mountains ( Click here ) , where novices can bike or
hike the plateau; or pressing on to the rugged Apuseni Mountains ( Click here )
Wandering bucolic valleys to discover Saxon villages and their fortified
churches ( Click here ) such as those in Viscri and Biertan
Squeezing yourself into a bear hide and watching the brown bear's picnic
unfold around you with Carpathian Nature Tours ( Click here )
Hanging out with shepherds in agrotourism guesthouses such as those at
Sibiel ( Click here ) or the Hungarian Huedin Microregion ( Click here )
Head to Poiana Braşov ( Click here ) to experience the 'Cold Mountain' loc-
ati on used in the Hollywood film, and for some great skiing too
Get your pulse racing in the spooky Tihuta (Borgo) Pass ( Click here ), im-
mortalised in Bram Stoker's Dracula
One of the creepiest looking castles in the country is Bran Castle ( Click
here ) a half-hour's journey from Braşov
History
For 1000 years, until WWI, Transylvania was associated with Hungary. In the 10th cen-
tury a Magyar (Hungarian) tribe, the Székelys, settled in what they called Erdély ('beyond
the forest' - the literal meaning of Transylvania). In the 12th century Saxon merchants ar-
rived to help defend the eastern frontiers of Hungary. The seven towns they founded -
Bistriţa (Bistritz), Braşov (Kronstadt), Cluj-Napoca (Klausenburg), Mediaş (Mediasch),
Sebeş (Mühlbach), Sibiu (Hermannstadt) and Sighişoara (Schässburg) - gave
Transylvania its German name, Siebenbürgen.
Medieval Transylvania was autonomously ruled by a prince accountable to the Hun-
garian crown, while the indigenous Romanians were serfs. After the 1526 Turkish defeat
of Hungary the region became semi- independent, recognising Turkish suzerainty. In 1683
Turkish power was broken and Transylvania came under Habsburg rule four years later.
The Catholic Habsburg governors sought to control the territory by favouring first the
Protestant Hungarians and Saxons and then the Orthodox Romanians. In 1848, when the
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