Prince Charles’s village in Romania has council working on preserving identity

The Saxon village of Viscri, in central Romania’s Brasov county, has a council that works to preserve the values of the local community. The village became famous after Prince Charles of Wales bought an old house there in 1996, which he renovated. The place has seen an increasing number of tourists ever since. The village council, which has been running for more than a year, is made up of representatives of various groups in the local community. It includes an agricultural association, a women’s association, an association of cart drivers transporting tourists, an association of accommodation owners, pensioners, youth and representatives of the three religions: Orthodox, Evangelical, and Neo-protestant. “We worked for two years on this Social Contract, a name given by the Council of Europe, but I said it is more about an understanding of the values we have at Viscri, and that we’d better keep unaltered. It is very good that someone manage the values of the village and so we thought about setting up a Village Council,” Caroline Fernolend, the vice president of the Mihai Eminescu Trust Foundation, told Agerpres. The foundation is dedicated to protecting the historical Transylvanian heritage, and was patronized by Prince Charles from 2003 until 2013. The social contract compels the residents of Viscri to preserve the identity of the village, Digi24.ro reported last year. Anyone else wishing to settle in Viscri has to commit to the same contract. The council is made up of 21 people and meets once a month. A president and a secretary are elected at every meeting, and the positions are valid only for the respective meeting, Fernolend explained. The idea of the village council was presented last year in Spain and in Portugal and it has become an example, she added. The council discusses issues related to the local economy, the access of tourists, or how to undertake a general cleaning of the village, considering that the site is included in the UNESCO Patrimony. Fernolend also explained that such an endeavor is needed at Viscri in order to preserve local values, which attract an increasing number of tourists each year. It also helps the place stay a model of sustainable tourism and of long-term patrimony conservation. A total of 40,000 tourists visited Viscri last year. They were coming from all over Europe, but also from the United States, Australia, Canada, or Thailand. A restaurant serving local dishes also opened in the village last year. It can serve up to 500 people at once, Agerpres reported. In 2017, the village of Viscri had 413 inhabitants, 13 of whom were Saxons. Among the residents is a four-people family, who came from Germany and settled in Viscri ten years ago.