Viștea stone
What came first: the village or the stone? In the Roman period, the road that connected the fortress of Napoca and the fortress of Porolissum passed through the hills in the basement of which was the beautiful building stone. The testimonies, however, either did not remain or were not discovered. The village of Viștea would be attested later, in the 13th century, when it was included in the parish of the city of Gilău.
The name of Viștea village has been linked, throughout the ages, to the natural stone that made it famous in Central and South-Eastern Europe.
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Saint Michael's Church in Cluj-Napoca
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The Black Church in Brașov
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The Palace of the Parliament in Budapest
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Almost all the medieval palaces in Transylvania
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House of the People
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Palace of Justice
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These are landmark buildings that were built or decorated with Vistea stone.
Pitra de Vistea is a type of limestone found in the geological component of the hills around Cluj, especially in the North-West area. The natural stone from Vistea limestone is white, with yellowish iridescence, it is resistant to the weather, with good mechanical properties, being ideal for the cladding and decorations of Gothic cathedrals and noble palaces, as well as administrative buildings from the medieval period.
Viștea stone gained unexpected fame in the full age of concrete: in the 80s, its exploitation and processing reached its peak, thanks to the orders for the House of the People (today the Palace of the Parliament). In recent years, the restoration of old buildings in medieval cities, as well as the finishing of new private constructions, have increased the demand for Vistea stone. Although more expensive than other building materials, this one is sought after for its special color. Capitals, window frames, cornices, balustrades, other interior and exterior decor elements, they are chosen due to manual processing. In the the workshops in Vistea, the planer, the cutter, the chisel and the hammer are still used by craftsmen to give value and ennoble the stone. To the question of what came first, the stone or the village, there is probably only one answer: both the stone and the village where the craftsmen lived have always existed together...