Inlăceni - the labyrinth village

The village won the ”Europa Nostra” award.

In the Southwestern part of Harghita county, 25 km away from Odorheiu Secuiesc and 18 km away from Cristuru Secuiesc, lies Inlăceni, a village unchanged for hundreds of years, beautiful as in the stories of childhood.

The age of the houses is measured in centuries, most of them rural architecture monuments raised in a time when the planks were joined together with wooden slats. They look very similar with each other.

Built of stone and wood, they are painted white or azure, covered with tiny tiles made in the village, and the flower garden in front of the house is indelible. The entry in the house is made through a mezzanine, by climbing a wooden ladder or a few steps made of stone. The ground floor and the basement are reserved for the kitchen, the storage rooms and the cellar.

But the peculiarity of Inlăceni’s unique status in Romania is the multitude of streets and alleys that cross the village and whose number exceeds that of houses. Slightly concentric, they spread to the four entrances in the village, crossing the property of the people. They are twisted like the mythical edifice built by Dedal, hence the name "labyrinth village", which was assigned to the locality.

Cover photo: Mihálydeák Antal 
Text and video sources: https://www.descopera.ro; https://www.youtube.com/ 
Magyar Művészeti Academy of MMA