History of the Cincsor Guesthouses and their restoration adventure
The Former Evangelical School, together with the Former Parish House and the Fortified Church in Cincsor, form a historic ensemble that is typical for the former Transylvanian Saxon villages. The church, school, parish house and community represent the core of spirituality and Saxon culture.
The Fortified Church in Cincsor was mentioned for the first time in 1421! After many restoration works it is now opened for public. When talking about the church and its grounds, we talk about a space marked by over 600 years of history, a history that becomes even more interesting as we focus on its particularities, on the village and people that helped built it.
Fritz Balthes, the genius but almost forgotten Transylvanian architect, built the Former Evangelical School in Cincsor in 1910 inspired by the Art Nouveau style. From his letters we found out that it was not at all easy for him to try to convince the members of the Saxon evangelical community to build a spacious, large windows, well lit building, even more so while having in mind the maintenance costs.
The Evangelical School in Cincsor was very modern for its time, quite surprising for a Transylvanian village! In 2008 when we came across this deteriorated and abandoned building and we fell in love with it! And so we began a restoration adventure full of surprises and unexpected beauties, learning to be modest in relation to this brilliant architect after we got convinced by his simple yet functional and elegant style, a style reduced to essence and with a care for details and those who enter its doors.
We invite you to come and discover the Former Evangelical School, with its large, well lit spaces, now transformed into a library, dining hall, kitchen and recreation space! The attic rooms are furnished using authentic furniture from Cincsor and offer a modern comfort. Enjoy the Saxon culture and refined regional cuisine!
The Former Evangelical Parish House is the oldest private building in Cincsor. It was regarded as the spiritual center of the community – all priests had a higher education, some of them even studied in renowned universities in Germany and so were meant to bring progress to all Saxon communities, progress that was usually concentrated around the Church. The former Parish House was probably built sometime before 1600, having only one room at that time and was extended as the years and centuries followed. From tax documents we found out that one of the first residents in the building was the catholic priest Rudbertus (1377). Bearing the emotion of having such an amazing opportunity to continue this legacy and make history – starting 1600 we have a list of all the catholic and evangelical priests and families who lived here – it was more than enough to make us want to restore this beautiful building and bring it to its former glory. Therefore, from an abandoned and destroyed building, today, the former Parish House has become an architectural jewelry with spacious rooms and Transylvanian Renaissance frescoes that were discovered upon restoration and which are now opened for public and guests. Where the stables used to be we have today rooms and large apartments that open in the spacious Parish garden and yard. Culture and nature… what can be more fascinating?
