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Transylvania
– Transilvania or Ardeal in Romanian (’beyond the forest’), Erdély in
Hungarian and Siebenbürgen in German (’seven castles’, reference to the
seven most important Saxon towns in Transylvania) – is situated in the
northwestern part of Romania, bound by the arch of the Carpathian Mountains.
It played a very important role in both the history of Hungarians and
Romanians. During the past two thousand years, it was successively a Roman
province under the name of Dacia, part of the medieval Hungarian Kingdom
(and the birthplace of one of the most important Hungarian kings, Mátyás
Hunyadi), independent state which in 1568, for the first time in history,
declared the freedom of belief and guaranteed equal rights to all officially
recognized nationalities (Hungarians, Saxons and the Székelys, a special
group of Hungarians believed by some to be the descendants of Attila's
Huns), part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire and, since the first world war,
an important province of Romania |
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Remains of its eventful history can be found all
over Transylvania: the ruins of Dacian and Roman fortifications in
Sarmisegetusa, the fortified Saxon churches and villages (such as
Biertan and Almen, included on the UNESCO World Heritage List), the
churches and fortifications of big cities built in gothic style (Brasov,
Cluj), the masterpieces of the Transylvanian baroque architecture, the
Hungarian and Romanian villages still preserving the traditional way of
life and folk art (Corund, Izvorul Crisului, Sapinta) – all are living
proof of the rich history, of the ethnical and cultural diversity of
this region, sometimes called ’Switzerland of Eastern Europe’.
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Traditionally,
three big ethnic groups inhabited Transylvania: Romanians,
Hungarians and Germans (brought to Transylvania by the Hungarian
kings, starting from the 12th century, from what is today Luxemburg
and Schwarzwald in Germany). This unique mixture of different
cultures resulted in a very specific ’Transylvanian spirituality’,
best represented by Mátyás Hunyadi, the Hungarian King who
introduced the art of the Renaissance in Hungary, Béla Bartók, the
world-famous collector and researcher of folk music or János Bolyai,
the founder of modern, non-Euclidean geometry. |
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The
traditional folk culture is still alive in many regions and villages
across Transylvania, such as Kalotaszeg, Rimetea, Székely-Land,
Moti-Land and several Saxon villages. At least on Sundays you will
encounter men and women dressed in beautiful traditional dresses,
returning from the Mass. In several of these villages, traditional
popular craftsmanship – such as pottery, woodcarving – still forms
the basis of every day’s life. |
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No wonder, that Sibiu, along with Luxemburg, was chosen to be the
Cultural Capital of Europe in 2007 – it’s deserved recognition of the
unique, multi-cultural character of Transylvania.
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