The first accommodation module designed for hikers travelling along the Via Transilvanica trail was inaugurated on Thursday in the Mures village of Sapartoc, Albesti commune, a tiny settlement with three churches, first documented in 1231 and left almost deserted more than 40 years ago because of muddy roads and collectivisation.

'We are launching the first accommodation module installed on site. Back in November we held a presentation to show what we had worked on over the past three years. But today, on this beautiful spring day, we are here to place it in the field and see exactly how it will work. We are in the household of locals Radu and Andreea Moldovan. This was our goal from the beginning - to create a connection between hikers and local people, and we believe this module will become precisely that gateway, because we are coming into vulnerable places where there are no accommodation facilities. Via Transilvanica already brings a large number of hikers and visitors to many of the places it crosses. So we provide the accommodation, while the locals provide the food and the stories, and we believe this completes the concept of the trail,' Paul Burzo, coordinator of the Via Transilvanica accommodation module project, told AGERPRES.

The accommodation modules are part of a project developed by the creators of the Via Transilvanica long-distance trail, the Tasuleasa Social Association, which plans to inaugurate four such facilities this year with the support of partners.

'We have very ambitious plans this year and hope to install four modules. At some point we may reach 100, 150 or even 200. Many accommodation places are needed because, as I have said before, Via Transilvanica is a major catalyst for these rural areas,' Burzo added.

The president and founder of Tasuleasa Social, Alin Useriu, who initiated Via Transilvanica, said the accommodation module responds to the need to offer solutions for hikers crossing areas with small or ageing communities and very limited lodging options.

'The popularity of Via Transilvanica as a hiking trail and tourism project has helped us enormously. Essentially, we wanted to pass through villages that were on the verge of disappearance, on the verge of loneliness. I think loneliness is the worst thing that can happen. My mother has a beautiful saying: 'God forbid grass should grow on your doorstep!' When nobody crosses your threshold any more, grass begins to grow there, and on many of our doorsteps, especially in rural Romania, a great deal of grass has grown. Back in 2018 we knew we needed to search for our identity. A few years later, my intuition proved right and we realised we needed to open perhaps the last window towards rural Romania, through which we could not only look, but also learn what can still be done, at the very last moment, so this memory is not erased,' said Alin Useriu.

He said rural Romania may never become especially attractive economically, which is why Via Transilvanica focuses on promoting the country's natural beauty, while accommodation facilities for hikers had become a necessity.

'This is exactly why we chose Sapartoc, a village with Germans, Hungarians and Romanians in equal proportions, with three churches. In other words, this is Transylvania. It is an almost abandoned village - there were only 18 residents left here, now there are 28, but every day the number of people in the village doubles or triples because of those arriving via Via Transilvanica. So there is life here. Radu Moldovan could no longer cope with the accommodation demand. He is developing, but not at the speed at which our young hero, Via Transilvanica, is growing. He had to send people to Sighisoara for accommodation and then bring them back to the trail. That is not what we wanted. We want people to eat food grown here, to have experiences here. So we conceived this accommodation module project long ago, imagining it as a network all along Via Transilvanica,' Alin Useriu said.

The accommodation module, designed as a tiny house, covers 25 square metres and includes a bathroom and sleeping space for five or six people. It also has air conditioning and can only be booked in advance. The concept belongs to architect Dorin Stefan.

'We have tried to use natural materials sourced as close as possible to the places where the modules are installed,' Paul Burzo said.

The first young family to settle in Sapartoc after the village's depopulation was that of Radu and Andreea Moldovan, whose son became the first child born there in 40 years.

Although they had no connection to the area, the couple bought a traditional household, restored it and opened a small guesthouse while also developing organic crops.

'I am truly happy about this very important moment for our family and our community. Today, looking around our household, I think back to the first time Andreea and I came here together, right through the place where the back of the module now stands. We were standing in the yard making plans for ecotourism. At one point it became very difficult because we kept wondering how we would bring hikers to our home. But we dared to try and made huge efforts. Friends and family supported us and helped rebuild the house. We worked abroad for several summers, but we kept telling ourselves with joy and confidence that one day hikers would come,' Radu Moldovan said.

He said the family's chance came with the Via Transilvanica project in 2021, when 'suddenly everything changed and we no longer needed to leave for work abroad'.

Ultramarathon runner Tiberiu Useriu, Alin Useriu's brother, said nobody expected Via Transilvanica to become successful so quickly. Last year alone, more than 120,000 hikers used the route, including many foreigners.

'For us this is an important day and we hope that all along Via Transilvanica, every 20 kilometres or so, there will eventually be an accommodation module. It is also an affordable solution for hikers. We will have to come back in a year's time to see whether it worked or not. Of course, hikers can stay here only with a reservation, because during July and August it becomes extremely crowded and bookings are essential. Last year we had around 120,000 tourists on Via Transilvanica, according to Tasuleasa Social's count, and more than 24% were foreigners. The project is already a success that has surpassed even us. But if you ask my brother, he was always a dreamer. He believed deeply in this project and, of course, we never expected it to grow on such a scale so quickly,' Tiberiu Useriu told AGERPRES.

Sapartoc village, located 12 kilometres from Sighisoara and nearly nine kilometres from the centre of Albesti commune, once had around 160 families and 800 inhabitants, Romanians and Hungarians alike, before beginning to depopulate in the 1960s, partly because impassable roads prevented young people from commuting to industrial areas or schools. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Dorina Matis; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)