| Laslea | |
|---|---|
| — Commune — | |
|
Laslea
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Romania |
| County | Sibiu County |
| Population (2002)[1] | 3,203 |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) |
Laslea is a commune located in Sibiu County, Romania.
At the 2002 census, 65% of inhabitants were Romanians, 23.9% Roma, 9.7% Germans and 1.3% Hungarians. 76.2% were Romanian Orthodox, 7.2% Pentecostal, 5.7% Evangelical Lutheran, 5.2% Seventh-day Adventist, 2.6% Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession and 1.2% Baptist.
Contents |
Mălâncrav (German: Malmkrog, Hungarian: Almakerék) is a village belonging to the Laslea commune. A dirt road of 10 km leads to the village. It was originally populated by Transylvanian Saxons.
Here are found the most significant Gothic murals in Transylvania aside from those at Ghelinţa in Covasna County.
The Saxon Romanesque Lutheran church has early 14th century Gothic murals in the apse, 15th century ones in the nave and a 15 century late Gothic altar.
In later centuries the Apafi clan (Hungarian nobles in Transylvania) buried their dead in the church since they had overlordship in the village, but the sarcophagi were removed (one of Mihaly Apafi is now in Budapest Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum. The locality was not part of the autonomous Saxon territory, although until the 1970s it was populated by Germans.
In 2006, The Prince of Wales bought and restored two 18th Century Transylvanian Saxon houses in the Transylvanian villages of Malancrav and Viscri to help protect the unique way of life that has existed for hundreds of years and promote sustainable tourism.
The buildings have been sensitively restored and converted into guesthouses for tourists. They remain in keeping with the surrounding architecture and feature a number of Transylvanian antiques but with modern facilities where possible.
The renovation of these buildings has helped provide a sustainable future for the people of rural Transylvania while also enabling residents to maintain their traditional way of life.