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| FORTIFIED CHURCHES |
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| | Axente Sever - Frauendorf | | | Axente Sever saxon church dating from 1322-1323, enforced with a massive defense tower (15th century) and an oval fortification. | |
| | Bazna - Baaßen | | | Church from 15th cent., with Romanic parts from 13th cent.and surrounding walls from 15th-16th cent. The church is in the nord-eastern part of the village. | |
| | Biertan - Birthälm | | | Hall-church in late Gothic style, build between 1500-1524, triple enclosing from 14-18 century. | |
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| | Brateiu - Pretai | | | Fortified church, built in the 14th century. The choir presents mural paintings from 1481. | |
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| | Carta - Kerz | | Near the edge of the town in the middle of flowering fields stands ‘Transylvania’s most beautiful ruin’ (quoting the town’s own 800 year celebration advertising). In 1202 the Cistercians founded the order’s most easterly monastery in Europe here. The nave has collapsed, but the choir is still used today by the Protestant church for their church services.
The monastery did not last as a monastery for long. Several times it was destroyed by the Turks and rebuilt, but under the Viennese Abbot Bärenfuß (‘Bear’s foot’) moral standards became very lax and in 1474 King Matthew Corvinus dissolved the monastery and handed it over to the church in Hermannstadt (Sibiu).
Source: http://www.capper-online.de/Travel/Romania/html/carta_.htm | |
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| | Dumitra - Mettersdorf | | | First mentioned in 1317 under the name of Villa Demetri, after the name of the German colonists' leader, Metter Demeter. Nowadays it is the most well preserved and probably the most valuable Gothic edifice across the whole Northern Transylvania. | |
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| | Herina - Mönchsdorf | | The Transylvanian village Herina was grounded in the XII-th century by the German colonists, who originally named it "Mönchsdorf" (meaning "village of the monks") due to the establishing of a catholic monastery. The church was built in about the same time.It was pretty big for those times and for the hard situation in XIIth century Transylvania. But later on, after the Transylvanian Germans chose the protestant faith (they shifted to the evangelic/lutheran faith in the XVI-th ct.), the monastery was closed and the village development halted. That's why the village community couldn't afford the restoration of the church in the trendy Gothic style any longer. So the Romanesque architecture is preserved very well till today. Please notice the triple windows, a clear sign of the Romanesque style.
Source: http://www.tymestours.ro/E-Tour-Herina-Moenchsdorf.htm | |
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| | Mosna - Meschen | | | Hall-church in late Gothic style, from the end of the 15th century, strong walls, with enclosed area. | |
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| | Tapu - Abtsdorf | | | Hill church dating from the 14th century, visible from long distance. | |
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| | Velt - Wölz | | | Gothic monument built in the second half of the 14th century and fortified at the beginning of the 16th. In 2002 the altar wall collapsed.
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| FORTRESSES |
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| | Prejmer - Tartlau | | | The Teutonic Knights constructed the fortress Tartlau in 1212-1213 as part of their colonization of the Burzenland region. The town of Prejmer near the castle had begun development by 1225, and was the eastern-most settlement of the Transylvanian Saxons. Prejmer was repeatedly invaded throughout the Middle Ages by various groups, including the Mongols, Tatars, Ottoman Turks, Cossacks, and Moldavians. However, the castle was only captured once, by Gabriel Báthori in 1611.The church is modeled after churches of Jerusalem, as well as built in the style of Late Gothic churches from the Rhineland. In the 15th century, it was surrounded by a wall 12m high, forming a quadrilateral with rounded corners. The wall was reinforced by four horseshoe-shaped towers, two of which have since disappeared. The entrance—a vaulted gallery—is protected by a barbican and flanked by a lateral wall. The defensive structure is strengthened by embrasures and bartizans, while the covered way is surrounded by a parapet. The granaries and rooms that accomodated the villagers are arranged on four levels above the cellars.
The fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. | |
| | Rupea - Reps | | The first mentioning in a document (castrum Kuholm) dates from 1324 and refers to the old peasant fortress situated on a basalt rock on the northwest side of the town. Rupea (Reps) was one of the so-called "7 German towns of Transilvania" (Siebenbürgen).
Source: http://www.thomasgraz.net/gl-502.htm | |
| | Saschiz - Keisd | | The Saxon Fortress that still dominates Saschiz is another trace left by the restless times of the Middle-Ages. It was built during the 14th century on a hill at 2 km from the centre of the village and its destination was to protect the inhabitants of Saschiz (and other six neighboring villages that helped to its building) from destructive attacks. The Saxon community was, once again, the builder of this monument and therefore, we have to notice that they used to built fortresses around the church from the centre of their settlements and not so far away, feature that makes the Saschiz fortress a special one among the other Saxon constructions.
Source: http://www.saschiz.ro/en/tourists_objectives.htm | |
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| MEDIEVAL CITIES |
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| | Medias - Mediasch | | | Situated in south-eastern Transylvania, the Medias region has been continuously inhabited since the Early Neolithic period. Its center is the medieval city of Medias, dating back to the 14th century, surrounded by a system of fortified and well preserved churches. | |
| | Sighisoara - Schäßburg | | The castle and the town were founded during the middle ages. In 1280 the town appears as "Castrum Sex", only later in 1435 it was given the name of "Sighisoara". The archaeological researches nearby the town had brought to the surface tools made of stone and metal.
Source: http://www.cetatea-sighisoara.com/uk/ | |
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