The village of Saschiz

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The village of Saschiz is situated on the European road E60, 20 km away from Sighisoara and 100 km away from Brasov. There live 2.050 inhabitants in the three villages that form this commune: Saschiz, Mihai Viteazu and Cloasterf.

Saschiz was first certified in the Middle-Ages (around 1305-1310). In 1419 it was mentioned as having several guilds, such as those of the shoemakers, the carpenters and the house painters. At that time, in Saschiz there were also schools, a hospital, the public bath and a court of law. In 12 of May 1678, following the ruling of the Transylvanian Diet, the town of Saschiz entered under the administration of Sighisoara.

The village of SASCHIZ has some very distinctive features. In a region where the myth of Dracula is exploited on his full potential, Saschiz can offer tourists a unique alternative: the beautiful gothic church with its clock-tower and the famous Saxon houses. In fact, those houses were included by UNESCO, in 1999, on the list of world’s heritage, together with six other Romanian sites.

There are only a few Saxons that remained in the area: approximately 70 people, rather old. The reasons for which the village was depopulated were, on one hand, the deportation in Russia of the German inhabitants at the end of the second world war and, on the other hand, their emigration in Germany during the 80’s.

The main occupation of the inhabitants is the village of the approximately 900 hectares of agricultural land and the breeding. Another important activity is the processing of the wood from the 3200 hectares of forest – mostly beech tree, oak tree, cherry tree but also the raising of sapling in the nearby nursery.

Aware of the beauty of their land, the local businessmen started to develop tourism services. There are several pensions but the tourists can also be hosted in the traditional houses of the inhabitants.