Sânpetru (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Petersberg''; Hungarian: ''Barcaszentpéter'') is a commune in

Brașov County Brașov County () is a county (județ) of Transylvania, Romania. Its capital city is Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" (''țări'') Burzenland and Făgăraș. Name In Hungarian language, Hungari ...

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 ...

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 ...

, located just north of the county seat,

Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...

.Hunedoara County Place-Name Directory
/ref>www.brasov.ro
/ref> It is composed of a single village, Sânpetru. The commune is located in the Burzenland ethnographic area, in the eastern part of the county, at the foot of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

. This area was home to many

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 ...

, although after the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

of 1989 much of this community emigrated to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The center of the village was built by this group and shows the influence of German architecture. Separate from this there is a Romanian-built area featuring a small church and houses dating at least to the early 19th century. A new center was built closer to Brașov during the communist era to house migrating workers for the tractor and bus factories in the city. Since 1989, new, more luxurious houses have been built on the outskirts of the village, slowly linking it with Brașov.

Demographics

At the 2011 census, the commune had 4,819 inhabitants, of which 91.8% of were

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

, 2.7%

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

, and 1.7% each

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

and

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. At the 2021 census, the population of Sânpetru grew to 11,794; of those, 79.85% were Romanians and 2.73% Hungarians. Natives include

Zaharia Bârsan Zaharia Bârsan ( – December 13, 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian playwright, poet and actor. He was born in Sânpetru, Brassó County, in what was then the Transylvania region of Austria-Hungary. His parents were Zaharie Bârsa ...

(1878–1948), a playwright, poet, and actor and Reinhold Batschi (born 1942), a former Romanian rower and leading Australian rowing coach.

Churches

The landmark of the village is the 13th-century fortified church. The original 3-nave

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

was demolished in 1794. There are still a few traces of the original 13th-century paintings on the defensive walls that surrounded the church. The

Order of Cistercians The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

received it in 1240. The fortified church was severely destroyed during a Turkish invasion in 1432. Most of the village was also destroyed then. After the Ottoman invasion, the local community built an 8-meter-high defensive wall fortified with 5 towers and a water trench. In the 17th century, the church suffered major damage in a large fire that also destroyed the local archives. The bell tower collapsed in 1713 and was rebuilt in 1778–82. This tower later collapsed, and in 1795 the structure was demolished and construction on a new church was begun.

Tourism

Sânpetru's main tourist attraction is the land around Lempes hill, a partially forested promontory which is a reservation for wild flora. This is a habitat for certain vary rare flowers as well as various

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

-bearing plants such as

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

blackberry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

, and

blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

. This preserve is home to a variety of fauna including rabbits, snakes, lizards, and birds.

Deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

once made their home here but may have since been hunted to

extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

. The

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

here is somewhat emperiled by the nearby presence of an artificial lake for depositing tar waste, herds of sheep.

Paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended be ...

enthusiasts use the hill as a launch point.

References

Literature

* Arne Franke: ''Das wehrhafte Sachsenland – Kirchenburgen im südlichen Siebenbürgen'', Deutsches Kulturforum Östliches Europa, Potsdam 2007
online
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanpetru Communes in Brașov County Localities in Transylvania Țara Bârsei