Rimetea Village: White Beauty and Love for Heritage

If you’d like to explore Rimetea, try a tailor-made tour from www.uncover-romania-tours.com

Rimetea is one of the most beautiful rural attractions in Romania. Also, it’s the first village in the country that received the Europa Nostra award for the preservation of its architectural patrimony. Its unique white houses with dark green shutters are the core of this patrimony, marked by Szekely and Hungarian cultural influences.

Don’t miss a visit to one of the most must-see places in Transylvania.

View over the village of Rimetea

Rimetea was once a thriving mining center

The village of Rimetea was first mentioned in a written document from the 13th century. It was for hundreds of years an important mining and blacksmiths’ center, powered up the Austrian miners who used the rich iron resources. Despite its prosperity, Rimetea remained a rural site with a typical medieval structure of plot organization and land use. Even today, that structure is almost intact, as well as the homogenous group of white houses that surround the central square.

Facade of a traditional house in Rimetea

This architectural style, found only in Rimetea and partially in Coltesti, reflects the identity of the well-off locals from the 19th century.  The oldest building dates from the 1820s, but many were rebuilt in the same style after the fire from 1870.

Solid stone constructions, these houses have lime-washed facades and beautiful plaster decorations around the green shutters. The same dark green colors the interior furniture adorned with vivid flowers, one of its main ethnographic features.  Over half of the 300 houses of the village conserve this specific architecture, preserved with the support of the Transylvania Trust Foundation.

From extreme sports to pure recreation

Rimetea village has a perfect location for nature lovers. It’s surrounded by the Trascau Mountains, based at the foothills of Piatra Secuiului, a picturesque cliff well-worth the hike. You can easily do a couple of hikes starting from Rimetea or the nearby Coltesti.

Walking to Piatra Secuiului

Don’t worry if you prefer the calm of cultural discoveries. The 17th-century Unitarian church, the old watermill, and the Ethnographic Museum are all great attractions. Plus, you can always add a bit of history by taking an easy walk to the ruins of the medieval fortress from Coltesti.

Piatra Secuiului

Photo credits Laurentiu Pop

Rimetea is a fascinating village, one of the few where locals made the conservation of their patrimony a priority. Don’t miss it if you’re staying in Alba Iulia, Cluj-Napoca, or even Sibiu.

If you’d like to explore Rimetea, try a tailor-made tour from www.uncover-romania-tours.com