Praid and Szeklerland
Praid is a small village situated in Harghita County, just 38 km from Odorheiu Secuiesc, on the Târnava Mică valley and at the foothills of Gurghiu Mountains. The village name comes from the Hungarian noun spinach. According to the tradition, the name comes from the carmen, who transported the salt, and while they were loading the carts their horses were grazing on this land. Going up on
Attractions and sights
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The ruins of the Rapsóné fortress.
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Other village attractions are the salt cliffs, among which the most famous is the Sóhát rock, which is 576 meters high and contains about 2 billion tons of salt.
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The salt mines are also a health resort for people with respiratory diseases. At the depth of 120 m in the mine there is a church and also a playground for children.
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You can visit the Salt Office, in the neighborhood, which was built in the early 19th century, and today works as a health clinic. In Praid’s House of Culture you can visit the cultural exhibition (the Village Museum), within which almost 2000 local and regional objects are exposed, but also historical relics, especially tools and models for cutting and transporting salt, as well as photos.
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The Praid Salt Mine.
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Praid is a health resort, therefore has several therapeutic salt baths, where the swimmers are floating because of the concentrated salt water.
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The Reformed Church, which was built between 1790 and 1796, and has a very old sanctuary that has been left by a Roman-Catholic Church in the 15th century.
the marked and easily accessible trail, there are the Rapsóné ruins, which are of Szekler origin and have an unknown history. After some excavations made in 1974 the researchers found out that the fortress is from the 11th -12th century. The salt mines were already operating during the Roman period. According to the history, Praid was located in the vineyard valley of Deszkásvár. Until 1562 the Szerklerland inhabitants had the salt at their hand for free, but after many riots, the Hungarian king,John II declared the salt mines as a state monopoly. King John II has ordered guardianship to every salt mine, and thus was born in 1564 the village Praid. Since its birth, Praid has belonged to the village Ocna de Sus, but in 1669 it becomes an independent village. The salt mines were opened under the Habsburg rule. In 1910 Praid had a population of 2888 inhabitants, of which 2858 were of Hungarian origin, 17 of German origin, and 8 of Romanian. At the abolition of the Hungarian Autonomous Region Mures in 1968, the commune Ocna was attached to Praid, therefore the villages Ocna de Jos and Ocna de Sus, but also the little village Becaș, belong now to Praid. In 1992 the population of Praid was 3790 of inhabitants, of which 3554 were Hungarians, 22 Roma and 64 of Romanian origin.
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The Roman-Catholic Church, which was built on the 1800s. In 1998 they built a new Roman-Catholic Church.
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The Orthodox Church, built in 1929.
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The Memorial House of Áprily, which was recently built. Those who are interested can get information about the poet and about the things that connected him to Praid.
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Praid’s older residents are well aware of the region’s typical dances. These country dances, which are shown in Szekler outfits, can be watched at the House of Dance, in the village Ocna de Sus.