Churches, since earliest times have been the most important elements of a rural settlement’s structure. According to Christian doctrines, the church and its surroundings have a celestial model, a transcendental imagery. This is why the church is a sacred cosmological place, continuously blessing the world, because it surrounds and represents it at the same time. In rural areas the church rises above other buildings, the church steeple is “an exclamation mark in the space”, a focus point, and as such, as far as the structure of space is concerned, it has an important role in coordination and orientation. The Plain Valley of the Mureș river microregion is a multi-ethnical and multiconfessional area, this is why a phenomenon specific to multiconfessional areas can be observed: in almost every settlement there are churches belonging to at least two or three religious denominations.

Another category of buildings that piques the interest of tourists are the burial sites of the Teleki family members, one of the most influential families of Transylvania, with members of international fame. Among them there are scientists, ministers, founders and protectors of churches, schools and libraries, explorers, etc. No wonder that these places became some kind of pilgrimage sites for several groups of society with different cultural interests, coming from both the country and abroad.

Because of its beautiful baroque castles, the Mureș Valley is often compared to the Loire Valley, and indeed, in the Plain Valley of the Mureș River there are very few settlements where important Transylvanian noble families didn’t have a castle or a larger manor house. In our microregion there are 4 castles on the list of historical monuments, 3 of them are category A monuments: the Teleki castle of Gornești, the Teleki castle of Dumbrăvioara and the Zichy manor house of Voivodeni, while one, The Teleki manor house of Glodeni is a B category monument. Apart from these we could mention the Bálintitt castle in Ernei, the Nagy manor house in Călușeri and the Bercsényi manor house in Săcăreni, which are not officially historical monuments but they do represent a certain local value.