Tile toiling: How one factory in Transylvania keeps this medieval tradition alive

More than 100 years ago, in 1906, the terracotta factory in Mediaş opened its doors, manufacturing tiles used in the construction of terracotta stoves. It started anew in 2015, when it changed owners but not the way it produces tiles, taking further a tradition that goes back to the region's craftsmen.

Teracota Mediaş was established in 1906 by Transylvania Saxon Gref Iulius, its owner until 1938. Until four years ago, it had various owners, including the Romanian state. In 2015, Saxon entrepreneur Uwe Draser, the owner of SN Deco Group, took over the plant and decided to preserve the traditional way of doing things.