Street Restitution Project in Viscri (Romania)
Viscri
is one of the seven Transylvanian villages with fortified
churches included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The
villages are situated in the south of Transylvania, a hilly
region bordered by the arc of the Carpathians. They provide
a vivid picture of the vernacular traditions based on the
characteristic land-use system, settlement pattern, and
organization of the farmstead units as well as the medieval
architecture of the German colonists, which exerted a strong
influence on the other ethnic groups in the area. The variety
of building types and defensive solutions, dominated by
the church fortifications and preserved over the centuries
is the expression of the cultural traditions of those communities.
The
Street Restitution Project in Viscri, supported by the German
World Heritage Foundation, is part of the Programme
for the integrated development of Sighisoara and the Saxon
Villages of Transylvania (Romania) launched by the
Mihai Eminescu Trust in co-operation with GAIA Heritage.
It serves as a pilot project for neighbouring villages and
helped to improve the quality of life of the village population
by facilitating transportation, improving water management
and waste water treatment. The fine cobbled paths and the
stone drainage channels were repaired, young pear and apple
trees along the main street were planted and new resting
benches and waste baskets, produced by the local population,
were installed. The restitution of the street also reinforced
the participation of the inhabitants of the bordering houses
in the overall maintenance of their village and enhanced
the visual quality of the village, creating thus a stronger
cultural link between the fortified church and its direct
environment and preserving an important part of a unique
landscape. It is hoped that the Restitution Project will
also contribute to the economic recovery of the village(s)
and to the development of sensitive tourism in the area.