Rimetea Village

Rimetea is a locality with nearly 800 years of continuous history, situated in the Trascău Depression at an altitude of 550 m, 24 km from Aiud and 62 km from Alba Iulia. The village flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries as an important centre of craftsmanship and mining: the extraction of iron ore in the area brought it renown, and the Germans called it Eisenmarkt (Iron Market). The village's main attraction is its architecture: about 200 traditional buildings from the 17th to the 19th century (the oldest, a miner's house from 1668), featuring white facades and green shutters, representing a subtle blending of Székely and Saxon styles. Characteristic of the area is the so-called "tall house" type, which emerged for practical reasons related to craftsmanship. This style has been preserved almost intact, and since 2000 the village has been designated a protected architectural and urban area. A fire around 1870 destroyed much of the village, but its residents rebuilt it in the same style, which accounts for the architectural uniformity seen today. The village is dominated by the limestone massif of Piatra Secuiului (1,128 m), behind which, in summer, the sun appears to rise twice. Local traditions include Fărșangul (a winter carnival of Székely character) and traditional crafts documented in the ethnographic museum in the village centre. Did you know that some gates in Rimetea still carry small plaques showing which firefighting tool each household had to bring in case of fire?