During the Roman occupation viticulture and winegrowing flourished in Transylvania. This era boasted considerable Transylvanian winegrowing regions such as those of the Gyulafehérvár, Torda, Kolozsvár and Zilah areas as well as the Maros and Küküllő country. The vine motif was a recurrent adornment on tombstones bequeathed by the thirteenth Germina legion garrisoned in Gyulafehérvár. Verespatak (Alburnus Maior) was site to an archeological finding of a Roman menu that listed two wines: merum and vinum. The last waves of Magyars of the great migrations must have already cultivated grapes because the term wine had been commonly used as early as the very beginning of this exodus. Transylvanian winegrowing gained momentum due to the state apparatus established under the rule of the House of Árpád as well as the church lands and episcopal estates that featured expansive vineyards. From the very earliest, viti- and viniculture were integral parts of the Hungarian and Transylvanian cultures, the basis of which was founded by the Benedictine monastic orders endowed with vast properties by King Saint Stephen to cultivate grapes and produce wine. The settling of Saxons in the 12th century played a major role amongst the many factors that contributed to the progress of Transylvanian viticulture, as evidenced in the fact that, henceforward, local maps of the subsequent centuries proudly and tellingly featured the areas between the Maros and Küküllő as WEINLAND. Published in 1532 in Basel, a map titled Transilvanie depicts the Küküllő region by the name of WEINGEBIET. Romanians have also referred to the Gyulafehérvár wine region as „tara vinului” from time immemorial. The first Saxon settlers into Transylvania in the surroundings of the Küküllő wine region were brought in by King Géza II (1141-1161), to be later followed by the development of Hungarian villages in the riverside region of Kisküküllő, beginning the 14th century, after the entry of villain settlements on the scene. Regal privileges such as tax exemption for the vineyards resulted in a considerable progress in the region. Typical of Saxon accuracy, from the year 1501 through 1858, the books of the city of Medgyes kept record of the amount and price of the wine produced as well as the weather patterns relevant to winegrowing. During the reign of the Hunyadis and King Mátyás, wine production reached such significance that by 1478, according to deeds of the time, Transylvanian wines not only were exported to Hungary but also to cater for the king’s court. Joseph II was the first to initiate an official land surveying and registration in Transylvania where, in those days, the total winegrowing areas amounted to 58,503 hectares producing as many as one million hectoliters of wine, harvest permitting. Major winegrowing areas of the time included the Szilágyság, Déva, the banks of the River Maros, the Küküllő Valley, and the surroundings of Torda and Marosvásárhely. Local weather, soil properties, elevation above sea level, climate and terrain features, and exposure are remarkably favorable to grape cultivation. Transylvania is also the birthplace of the first oenology book handwritten in the Hungarian language as well as the appendix to the cookbook, dated 1680, by Anna Bornemissza. Varietals indigenous to Transylvania, in order of the amount harvested rank as follows: Mézesfehér, Ezerjó, Királyleányka (a hybrid of the Leányka and Kövér grapes, originating from the environs of Segesvár, became common Transylvania-wide following World War I), Juhfark, Bánáti Rizling, Mustosfehér, Kövidinka, Furmint, Magyarka, Jardovány and Erdei, Kadarka and Fekete Leányka.