First Romanian School

About

The building was erected in 1495, but according to researcher Vasile Oltean, the school had started to function before the 15th century. The first Romanian-language classes were held in 1583. It was rebuilt in 1597.

The background of the students was varied and, being the only Romanian school in this region of Transylvania, people came from far and wide. Each village paid for one student to attend the school, in order to learn to teach upon returning and share their education. Over time, a total of 1,730 students attended the school; however there were at most 110 at any given time.

The school remained in use until 1850, when Andrei Șaguna College was opened. The collections of archaic and original items were gathered starting in 1933 and were first organized in a museum in 1964. It houses a variety of early Slavic and Romanian books, the first Romanian Bible, and what can be loosely described as the first school magazine. The library contains six thousand books which were used in the school.

The museum also contains the first Romanian printing press. Only 39 books were made by this press, which is hardly surprising given the labour required, however the work it did produce…