Village and Surroundings

Şinca Nouă is situated in the Centre of Romania, at about 40 km West of the town of Braşov, on Şinca Valley, which separates the eastern foothills of the Făgăraş Mountains (West) from the Perşani Mountains (East).

Short history

In 1231, Şinca was first documented as a settlement. In the second half of the XVIIth , Transylvania belonging to the Habsburg Monarchy, Empress Maria Teresa obliged all Romanians in this province to change their religion from Orthodox to Catholic and all young men to do military service in the border regiments. As a consequence, 88 families from Şinca decided to leave their houses and land, and sought refuge in the forests, some 9 km further to the South, where they settled around a small, orthodox monastery. This new settlement was Şinca Nouă (New Şinca), which became the biggest Romanian community in the Făgăraş Land. After some time, Şinca Nouă was accepted as independent commune, which lasted until 1968.

Economy

Main activity of the locals is agriculture in small livestock-based subsistence farms: The land is still used the old, traditional way, without artificial fertilizers and much reduced mechanization. The traditional agriculture is closely linked to the broad variety of plant and animal species, which makes the surroundings of Şinca Nouă astonishingly rich in natural beauty. This way of life and the balance, which still exists between man and nature is seriously endangered by the upcoming socio-economic changes due to the recent accession of Romania in the EU.

In order to successfully pass through these inherent changes, the Town Hall and the Local Council of Şinca Nouă, with the help of the Şinca Nouă Foundation, elaborated in 2004 a Vision for a sustainable development in the next 20 years, which “sees” Şinca Nouă as an eco-village, with its economy based on organic farming, eco-tourism and a small scale food processing industry.