Odorheiu Secuiesc · RO

Arany Griff Rend

The Arany Griff Rend – the Order of the Golden Griffin – is a living-history association in Odorheiu Secuiesc (Székelyudvarhely), in the Székely Land of central Romania. Founded in 2012 and led by the historian Sashalmi-Fekete Tamás, it is the first Székely medieval-reconstruction group in Transylvania, dedicated to reviving the combat arts, dress and courtly culture of the 14th and 15th centuries. Rather than a museum behind glass, it is a working order of performers who train, demonstrate and run interactive medieval programmes, and its base at "Vár" ties it to the old fortress whose ruins give the town its skyline. For a visitor, the appeal is participation: sword and halberd demonstrations, archery, Renaissance circle dances and theatrical encounters staged against fortresses, fortified churches and manor houses. Drawing on local archaeology, the 1536 decree on Székely armaments and the region's St Ladislaus frescoes, the Order turns the medieval history of this one-time royal Székely seat into something you can watch, try on and photograph.