Valea Viilor

Valea Viilor, Transylvania's fortified Saxon village, is also named Wurmloch in German. It's a bit difficult to get there from Medias or Sighisoara because the roads are unpaved and few buses pass by here. A car is the best way to spend two or three days discovering the region's fortified towns and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Valea Viilor was first mentioned in writing in 1305. The town was then called Terra Baromlach, which in Hungarian means land of cattle, and it came to be the Saxon village of Wurmloch, the hollow of the snakes in German. Since 1359, it has been a free state, an autonomous zone, not a medieval domain with a count who imposes his own rules.