SAXON HERITAGE OF TRANSYLVANIA
8 days theme tour

Saxons arrived in Transylvania during the mid 1100s from the Rhine and Moselle Rivers regions, responding to the call of King Géza II of Hungary. For decades, the main task of the Saxon settlers was to defend the South Eastern border of the Kingdom of Hungary. Highly respected for their skills and talent, the Saxons succeeded in time in gaining administrative autonomy, almost unmatched in the entire feudal Europe of absolute monarchies. The result of almost nine centuries of existence of the Saxon community in Southern Transylvania is a cultural and architectural heritage unique in Europe. Transylvania is, even nowadays, a medieval, fairy tale land, home to lots of well-preserved towns and fortified churches built between the 13th and 15th centuries by Saxons.

Day 1
Sibiu - Marginimea Sibiului (25 km)
Meet and greet at Sibiu international airport. Welcome dinner and overnight in a rural guesthouse in Marginimea Sibiului.






 

Day 2
Sibiu in place (20 km)
Breakfast. Today we discover Sibiu, one of Romania's oldest cities, documentary attested at the middle of the 12th century. It was founded by Saxons in 1143 and called Hermanstadt, name given by the Transtlvanian Saxons to their chief city. Sibiu was the 2007 European Capital of Culture. In the morning, visit the open-air ethnographic ASTRA museum, including lots of traditional rural techniques. Lunch in a rustic restaurant in the park of the museum.

In the afternoon visit the old center with its tourist sites: Old City Hall, housing the History Museum; the Councilor's Tower; the Small Square or the Small Ring; the Large Square or the Large Ring; the Evangelical Church; Bridge of Liars.
Dinner and overnight in a rural guesthouse in Marginimea Sibiului.

 

Day 3
Sibiu - Medias - Sighisoara (90 km)
Breakfast. Departure to Medias (Mediasch); on the way stop in Valea Viilor (Wurmloch) and Mosna (Meschen). The village dating from the 13th century, has a fortified church built at the end of the 15th century and surrounded by thick walls. Valea Viilor is a UNESCO Patrimony site. In Mosna, the village church, dating from the 14th century was completely rebuilt in 1845 in a late-Gothic style. Its centerpiece is the tall bell tower, eight storeys high.
Continue to Medias, where Saxon church leaders met in 1544 to mark the first Lutheran Synod in Transylvania. The fortified Evangelical Church of St Margaret dominates the old town. Lunch in a restaurant.

Drive to Biertan (Birthalm), one of the first and biggest Saxon fortresses in Transylvania. We notice the Franconic style of the rows of houses around the central square overlooked by a fortress-church. The fortified church is placed on a hillock in the middle of the village. Biertan served as a residence to the Lutheran bishops and as a seat of the Transylvanian Diet.
Drive to Sighisoara. Dinner and overnight in Sighisoara in a newly refurbished Saxon house (3* hotel).

 

Day 4
Sighisoara - Viscri - Brasov - Rasnov  (190 km)
Breakfast. In the morning tour medieval Sighisoara (to its Saxon founders, "Schassburg"), an imposing fortified hilltop town dominating the valley below. You will discover a well preserved Saxon medieval town still inhabited. From the highterrace of the Clock Tower you will have a fine panorama of the town and its fortifications - the 1648 clock still keeps time. Afterwards continue to visit the hilltop within the town, passing up an unusual covered wooden staircase. Explore the Church of the Hill and the Saxon Cemetery.

Drive to Viscri (Deutschweisskirch). Visit the fortress, which is one of the few fortresses in Romania protecting a still existing church built in the 12th century. The style used at the buildings entitles the historians to maintain the idea that it was erected by the Teutonic Knights, as the citadel is built in a square shape, being surrounded by protective towers.
Lunch in Viscri in a guesthouse and then departure to Brasov. Short city tour.
Drive to Rasnov for dinner and overnight in a rural guesthouse.

 

Day 5
Rasnov - Sinaia - Bran - Rasnov ( 110 km)
Breakfast. Visit the Saxon fortress Rasnov (Rosenau), located on a 150m high hill, dominating the surrounding plane. The fortress, erected in the 13th century by the Saxon colonists, has been recently restored.
Drive to Sinaia on Prahova Valley, surnamed the Pearl of the Carpathians. Visit the impressive Peles Castle, dating from the end of the 19th century. It was built by the First King of Romania, Carol I of Hohenzollern.

Lunch in a restaurant and then drive to Bran (Torzburg) to visit the Bran Castle, also known as Count Dracula's Castle, even though Dracula never passed there.
Back to Rasnov for dinner and overnight in a rural guesthouse.
 


Day 6
Rasnov - Prejmer - Harman - Brasov - Rasnov (80 km)
Breakfast. Drive to Prejmer (Tartlau) and visit the biggest fortified church in the South Eastern Europe built in the 14th century. The fortress with double walls and dungeons makes you think of the ancient tales. Around the Gothic church is a high double defense fortification. Each family in the village had a rescue room in the defence wall, which was inherited and used during the sieges.

Continue to Harman (Honigberg) and visit a 13th century peasant citadel, with its church clock tower, bearing Cistercian elements. In the 15th century, the defensive walls and a chapel with frescoes were added.
Drive to Brasov (Kronstadt). Lunch in a restaurant. Visit the old center with the Black Church, the greatest Gothic church between Wien and Istanbul.
Back to Rasnov for dinner and overnight in a rural guesthouse.

 

Day 7
Rasnov - Fagaras - Cincu - Cisnadioara - Sibiu ( 200 km)
Breakfast. Departure to Cincu (GroßSchenk) via Fagaras (Fogarasch). In Cincu, a secluded Saxon village, visit the citadel church having a beautiful altarpiece of sculpted and polychrome wood. Continue to Cisnadioara (Michelsberg).
Stop for lunch in a restaurant in Sambata.
Visit the church in Cisnadioara, a Saxon ecclesiastical architectural monument of considerable importance built at the beginning of the 12th century.

It is one of the most visited monuments around Sibiu.
Farewell dinner and overnight in a rural guesthouse in Marginimea Sibiului.
 


Day 8
Sibiu
Breakfast. Last small shopping. Transfer to Sibiu international airport.

Duration	8 days / 7 nights
Lodging	rural guesthouses (ocasionally, bathrooms shared between tourists) and hotels
Notes	1. Rates do not apply during Easter, Chrismas and the New Year period. 2. According to the opening hours for some visited sites (e.g. museums), this programme can be applied as it is if Day 1 is Monday or Tuesday. If Day 1 differs, some visits or activities will be replaced consequently. 3. Price does not include: extra taxes for cameras and filming (requested in some places - e.g. the monasteries), personal drinks off the boarding, tips (optional).