Transsylvania Nostra Journal

Smig (Sibiu County – Romania) is a multi-ethnic and pluriconfessional village situated about 10 km east from Medias, in a region of high hills, along the valley of a small affluent of the Târnava Mare River. In 1317, it was attested in documents as a serfs’ village and preserved this status until 1848. Unlike multi-ethnic localities in the Saxon colonization area, in Smig, neighbourhoods were not organised according to ethnic criteria, due to the way the locality was formed. Although the Saxons in the village were not numerous, by comparison with the other ethnic groups, their social and economic prestige and the reputation of the neighbouring Saxon settlements influenced not only the structure and decoration of the dwellings, but also the organization of households in the entire village.
Keywords: Transylvania, vernacular architecture, multi-ethnic locality, serfs’ village