Sânpetru (German: Petersberg; Hungarian: Barcaszentpéter) is a commune in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania, located just north of the county seat, Brașov. It is composed of a single village, Sânpetru.
The commune is located in the Burzenland ethnographic area, in the eastern part of the county, at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains.
This area was home to many Transylvanian Saxons, although after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 much of this community emigrated to Germany. The center of the village was built by this group and shows the influence of German architecture. Separate from this there is a Romanian-built area featuring a small church and houses dating at least to the early 19th century. A new center was built closer to Brașov during the communist era to house migrating workers for the tractor and bus factories in the city. Since 1989, new, more luxurious houses have been built on the outskirts of the village, slowly linking it with Brașov.
Natives include Zaharia Bârsan (1878–1948), a playwright, poet, and actor and Reinhold Batschi (born 1942), a former Romanian rower and leading Australian rowing coach.
Churches
The landmark of the village is the 13th-century fortified church. The original 3-nave basilica was demolished in 1794. There are still a few traces of the original 13th-century paintings on the defensive walls that surrounded the church. The Order of Cistercians received it in 1240. The fortified church was severely destroyed during a Turkish invasion in 1432. Most of the village was also destroyed then. After the Ottoman invasion, the local community built an 8-meter-high defensive wall fortified with 5 towers and a water trench.