Laslea

Laslea
—  Commune  —
Laslea
Coordinates: 46°13′N 24°39′E / 46.217°N 24.65°E / 46.217; 24.65
Country	Romania
County	Sibiu County
Population (2002)[1]	3,203
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)

Laslea (German: Grosslasseln; Hungarian: Szászszentlászló) is a commune located in Sibiu County, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Floreşti (Felsendorf; Földszin), Laslea, Mălâncrav (Malmkrog; Almakerék), Nou Săsesc (Neudorf; Apaújfalu) and Roandola (Rauthal; Rudály).

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.

The apse

Villages

Mălâncrav is a village in 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 by the Communist regime. The locality was not part of the autonomous Saxon territory, although until the 1970s it was populated by Germans.

Prince of Wales and sustainable tourism

In 2006, The Prince of Wales bought and restored two 18th century Transylvanian Saxon houses in the villages of Mălâncrav 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.

Mălâncrav church gallery

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  Exterior

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  15-century altar

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  The apse

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  Mark the Evangelist

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  Murals

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  Jesus with the Cross

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  Holy Hungarians, Bishop Gellert, Ladislaus I of Hungary, Unknown, Stephen I of Hungary, his son Holy Prince Emericus

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  Mural

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  Murals

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  Murals

Coordinates: 46°13′N 24°39′E / 46.217°N 24.65°E / 46.217; 24.65

References

1. ^ Romanian census data, 2002; retrieved on March 1, 2010