A Monument for Cyclists

The village of Micfalău, located 23 kilometres north of Sfântu Gheorghe in the Olt Valley, on the road to Miercurea Ciuc, was named after the family of Count Mikó, who once owned the whole area. Because of the extensive beech forests in the area, Count Miklós Mikó founded a glass factory in the valley of Nagypatak as early as 1750, and the site was called Gerebencz. In 1812, the owners moved the hut and its workers to the area of the present village centre. The count brought in skilled workers from the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, and the Romanian Old Kingdom, but the mixed-ethnic village population quickly became "Hungarianised" in the Hungarian environment. The village also has a long tradition of quarrying, with andesite being extracted from the quarries still in operation today. Italian stone carvers were brought in to work on these works, and the decorative stone carving of Micfalău - monuments, tombstones, gateposts, staircases - became famous far and wide.

Micfalău, which had a population of 1,635 at the last census in 2021, has a special recent history: a monument for cyclists was erected at the southern entrance to the village. The monument commemorates the deceased cycling students who, under the communist dictatorship, cycled to Tekirdağ under the guidance of the village's legendary sports teacher, Ákos Fejér. 

Samu Csinta