The Principality of Transylvania was formed right after the battle of Mohács in 1526. It was attached to the Habsburg Empire by the treaty of Karlóca in 1699. From 1868 it became part of Hungary within Austria-Hungary until 1920 when it was incorporated into Romania by the Entente powers as part of the treaty of Trianon. Many peoples have inhabited Transylvania. According to the first written sources, at the end of the 1st millenium Scythians, later Celts and Dacians (Thracians) settled down in the area. In the ancient times Visigoths, Tailfals, Huns, Gepids, Vandals were wandering around here. In the Middle Ages Avars, Bulgarians and Hungarians arrived. By the 13th century peoples of Hungarians, Seklers, Saxons and Romanians could be differentiated. Transylvania can be proud of its special geographical sites: Békás-szoros, a gorge valley with techtonical origins or the famous Gyilkos-tó, a lake which was formed by detritus slid from the hillside blocking the waters of the surrounding streams. Transylvania is full of natural resources as well: vast amount of gold and silver still lie in the depth of the Transylvanian Ore-Mountains. It was the Romans who first exploited salt from the mountains, but in the 17th century rulings of the Habsburgs led to the opening of more and more salt mines, which brought economic boost for the region. Those serve as museums today. There have always been many tales and legends about Transylvania and its inhabitants. One of them is of Elisabeth Bathory from the 16th century. She was said to be afraid of aging so much that she used to drink the blood of virgins and fill her bath with it. Another is about the lord of Wallachia from the 15th century, Vlad Tepes, who used to treat his servants rather cruelly, so it is no wonder that the character of Dracula was inspired by his existence. It was the year of 1444 when the Pope gave the inhabitants of Csíksomlyó permission to have a saint’s day feast, because of lending a helping hand with the building of the local Franciscan church. Nowadays several hundred thousand people go on a pilgrimage for the feast of Csíksomlyó at every Pentecost. Transylvania is a real travel in time: you can easily meet people having long forgotten jobs like charcoal burner or alpine shepherd.