The fairies of the Backa fortress - Herghelia
The settlement Mezőménes is situated in the middle of Transylvania, in Mezőség / Câmpia Transilvaniei, in a picturesque setting, only eleven kilometers from Târgu Mureş. No wonder if fairies ever lived in this beautiful landscape: the legend is transferred from father to son between the locals, according to which they owned the Backa fortress rising at the boundary of the settlement.
The fairies lived peacefully in the castle until more and more churches were built in the populated Mezőség. According to the folk myth, they were bothered by the bell, so that they sent legates to Mezőménes, persuading people not to bell and to be pull down the tower. The villagers did not even want to hear about it, and the refusal was considered as war message by the fairies: they destroyed all the churches of Mezőség in revenge.
Once the people of the Backa fortress got into trouble: the water of the fairies ran dry and they were forced to ask for help from the people, but they did not even
respond to the fairies. The thirst led to the evacuation of the Backa fortress, and its inhabitants left the area.
This mythological region is nowadays famous for other attractions, such as the health and lifestyle center in Mezőménes, and the surrounding forests, fields, good air, abundant water springs, and the Reformed church of the settlement. According to tradition, before the Tatar invasion, the small village was not located at its present place, but at the nearby Sárháló stream, at that time the village was called Nagyménes. The Tatars devastated Nagyménes, its remaining inhabitants moved to Mezőménes after 1666.
Today, the small village at the Bocsok hill is located in a small valley. The area is ideal for horseback riding - the name of the settlement also suggests that once horses were probably grown here.
If we have great luck, while riding, we can see maybe even nowadays a fairy searching for water at the border of the village - but always remember that although these creatures once destroyed churches, not all of them are evil.
The fairies lived peacefully in the castle until more and more churches were built in the populated Mezőség. According to the folk myth, they were bothered by the bell, so that they sent legates to Mezőménes, persuading people not to bell and to be pull down the tower. The villagers did not even want to hear about it, and the refusal was considered as war message by the fairies: they destroyed all the churches of Mezőség in revenge.
Once the people of the Backa fortress got into trouble: the water of the fairies ran dry and they were forced to ask for help from the people, but they did not even
respond to the fairies. The thirst led to the evacuation of the Backa fortress, and its inhabitants left the area.
This mythological region is nowadays famous for other attractions, such as the health and lifestyle center in Mezőménes, and the surrounding forests, fields, good air, abundant water springs, and the Reformed church of the settlement. According to tradition, before the Tatar invasion, the small village was not located at its present place, but at the nearby Sárháló stream, at that time the village was called Nagyménes. The Tatars devastated Nagyménes, its remaining inhabitants moved to Mezőménes after 1666.
Today, the small village at the Bocsok hill is located in a small valley. The area is ideal for horseback riding - the name of the settlement also suggests that once horses were probably grown here.
If we have great luck, while riding, we can see maybe even nowadays a fairy searching for water at the border of the village - but always remember that although these creatures once destroyed churches, not all of them are evil.
