Mălâncrav (german: Malmkrog, hu, Almakerék) is a village in the commune of

Laslea Laslea (german: Grosslasseln; hu, Szászszentlászló) is a commune located in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Florești (''Felsendorf'', ''Földszin''), Laslea, Mălâncrav (''Malmkrog'', ''Almakerék''), ...

Sibiu County Sibiu County () is a county ( ro, județ) of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Its county seat ( ro, reședință de județ) is the namesake town of Sibiu (german: Hermannstadt). Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szeben ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, Romania. An asphalt road of 13 km leads to the village. In the formerly majority

Transylvanian Saxon The Transylvanian Saxons (german: Siebenbürger Sachsen; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen''; ro, Sași ardeleni, sași transilvăneni/transilvani; hu, Erdélyi szászok) are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania ...

village, there still is a small community of Saxons. The film ''

Malmkrog ''Malmkrog'' is a 2020 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Cristi Puiu. Set in turn-of-the-20th-century Transylvania, at the snowy hillside manor of a blithe aristocrat named Nikolai (Frédéric Schulz-Richard), the film follow ...

'' (2020) has been named after the village and was shot at the Apafi manor. The Saxon Romanesque

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

church has early 14th-century Gothic

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s in the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

, with 15th-century murals in the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and a 15th-century late Gothic

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

. They constitute some of the most significant

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

murals in

aside from those at

Ghelința Ghelința ( hu, Gelence, ; german: Gälänz) is a commune in Covasna County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Ghelința and Harale (''Haraly''). It formed part of the Székely Land, ethno-cultural region of the historical T ...

Covasna County Covasna County (, hu, Kovászna megye, ) is a county ( județ) of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Sfântu Gheorghe. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 210,177, making it the second least populous of Romania' ...

. In later centuries the Apafi family (descending from a certain Saxon man named Apa; later a leading Hungarian noble family in Transylvania) buried their dead in the church, since they had overlordship in the village. In 1902, the tomb chest of György Apafi, father of Mihaly Apafi, and his family was transferred to the

Hungarian National Museum The Hungarian National Museum ( hu, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum) was founded in 1802 and is the national museum for the history, art, and archaeology of Hungary, including areas not within Hungary's modern borders, such as Transylvania; it is not to ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. The village was not part of the traditionally autonomous Saxon territory, although it had a majority ethnic German population until the 1970s.

Gallery

image:almakerek11.jpg, Exterior Image:almakerek1.jpg, 15-century altar Image:almakerek2.jpg, The apse Image:almakerek3.jpg, Mark the Evangelist Image:almakerek4.jpg, Murals Image:almakerek5.jpg, Jesus with the Cross Image:almakerek6.jpg, Holy Hungarians, Bishop Gellert,

Ladislaus I of Hungary Ladislaus I ( hu, László, hr, Ladislav, sk, Ladislav, pl, Władysław; 1040 – 29 July 1095), also known as Saint Ladislas, was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary and ...

, Unknown,

Stephen I of Hungary Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen ( hu, Szent István király ; la, Sanctus Stephanus; sk, Štefan I. or Štefan Veľký; 975 – 15 August 1038), was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the f ...

, his son Holy Prince Emericus Image:almakerek7.jpg, Mural Image:almakerek8.jpg, Murals Image:almakerek9.jpg, Murals

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Sibiu County Gothic architecture in Romania