Archita (, ) is a village in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, part of the commune of Vânători,

Mureș County Mureș County (, , ) is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative reor ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. Traditionally a

Transylvanian Saxon The Transylvanian Saxons (; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen'' or simply ''Soxen'', singularly ''Sox'' or ''Soax''; Transylvanian Landler: ''Soxn'' or ''Soxisch''; ; seldom ''sași ardeleni/transilvăneni/transilvani''; ) are a people ...

town and the site of a

fortified church A fortified church is a church that is built to serve a defensive role in times of war. Such church (building), churches were specially designed to incorporate military features, such as thick walls, battlements, and embrasures. Others, such as t ...

, it is a modern

tourist destination A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beau ...

, also being on the route of the

Via Transilvanica Via Transilvanica 'The Transylvanian Trail' is a hiking trail that crosses the Transylvania, Bukovina and Banat regions of Romania, and is meant to promote their cultural, ethnic, historical and natural diversity. It was built between 2018 and ...

long-distance trail A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

Name

Archita, the Romanian name of the village, is also known as ''Arkeden bei Schäßburg'' in German, while the Hungarian name is ''Erked''. Arkeden bei Schäßburg, or Arkeden in short, could derive its name from the Hungarian toponym Erked or a Germanic anthroponym (Archo or Ercho), its name being first mentioned in 1356 as ''Erkud''. In the

Transylvanian Saxon dialect Transylvanian Saxon is the native German dialects, German dialect of the Transylvanian Saxons, an ethnic Germans of Romania, German minority group from Transylvania in central Romania, and is also one of the three oldest ethnic German and Geog ...

, its name is variously rendered: Ärkeden, Ârkeden or Arkedn.

History

Prior to the arrival of the

Transylvanian Saxons The Transylvanian Saxons (; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen'' or simply ''Soxen'', singularly ''Sox'' or ''Soax''; Transylvanian Landler dialect, Transylvanian Landler: ''Soxn'' or ''Soxisch''; ; seldom ''sa ...

, the area in which Archita now lies was occupied by the Székely people with an old enclave of Romanians living to the north of the village. It was founded as Arkeden by the Saxons as an agricultural centre. As one of the oldest settlements of the ''Schäßburger Stuhl'' (the administrative seat of

Sighișoara Sighișoara (; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Schäsbrich'', ''Šesburχ'', or ''Scheeßprich''; ; or ) is a Municipiu, city on the Târnava Mare, Târnava Mare River in Mureș County, central Romania. Located in the ...

), it was probably in existence by the end of the 12th century. From the 14th century onward, the local nobility start to be historically recorded. For example, Nicholas of Archita owned parts of the village. It remained a German-speaking settlement until the 1980s when its population, having been reduced to poverty by the communist regime of

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

, emigrated to accept German citizenship. By 2009, there were just three Saxons left in the village and, with some building abandoned, the historic layout of the village is no longer clearly visible. Recently, the population has been approximately 50% ethnic Romanian and 50%

Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

. The village is often known on account of its 13th century fortified Lutheran church (a member of the

Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession in Romania The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania (, ) is a German-speaking Lutheran church in Romania, mainly based in Transylvania. As a Lutheran church, it adheres to the Augsburg Confession. Its history goes back to the 12th cent ...

). There is also a

Romanian Orthodox Church The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the East ...

in the village whose building dates from 1894. In May 2011,

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

visited Archita to see the restoration work being carried out by the Maria Nobrega Foundation.

Notes

External links

Arkeden on Siebenbuerger.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archita, Mures Transylvanian Saxon communities Populated places in Mureș County Populated places established in the 12th century