A place where an imaginary portal is being opened up in front of you and helps you teleport in the 12th century where you won't find any tools, people, or rules in common with the 21st century. Also, an impressive construction that comes with a lot of rare pieces in Europe and Romania, but also with a room that could solve a lot of things from the current times.

Along with many other things we enjoy doing while exploring urban locations, there is this moment when we get to reach the top of a hill, a tower, or even just a higher place from where we can look down and admire the city/village or just anything that some might call daily routine.
I find it the border between being like everybody else and picking your own way to look over those things.
I mean we all could be just down there and see the same things, but while they can only explore the surroundings from the ground, we can also get an aerial view which gives a completely new perspective that every tourist is searching for.
And today's location not only managed to offer us this guilty pleasure but also taught us a little bit more history and stories from the past which seem just so far away from what we are currently living in the 21st century.
The Fortified Church of Biertan seems definitely less old than how it is because it dates since the 12th century and it still looks like these from the 17-18th century due to the nice people who keep getting involved to make it last forever.

A thing that we often don't get to find during our journeys, but today was different and that made it a great surprise and experience to be achieved.
The fortified church is just one of the many such gems which are currently resting on the territory of Transylvania because almost every single small village from this area contains at least some ruins or a medieval/fortified church, so you might call it a great opportunity to explore them all if you are a fan into this kind of discoveries.

But what really fascinated us was its size and placement, being located up on the hill where we are used to see citadels or castles, being composed of the main church which is hall type and covers mostly the whole complex, but which is perfectly completed by three more fortified enclosures that are adding six more towers and three bastions to the landscape.

The place which caught our attention on that day represents the last church built following a gohic style from Transylvania and it's the most imposing fortified peasant historical monument from this area, located in a forgotten village which enjoys the visit of the tourists due to the church.
Back in the 14th century, the whole place was a very important economic center of the area which was declared just two centuries later, a center of the Saxon episcopate too.
There is no wonder that the imposing building became pretty fast a target coveted by many invaders due to the well placement and very thick and strong walls that were surrounding the location.
It was basically what everyone would wish to have back on those times, so they could prevent possible attacks and wars.
However, this didn't make the village stay away from attacks but just have a little bit more control over everything compared to other locations from Transylvania because the three halls of equal heights came with three different entrances where the access could be make from either west, north or south.

Each one of the entrances was connected to the others just so they can offer proper protection to the fortified church, as it follows:

• Interior fortified enclosure composed of three towers, one bastion and gate tower, which were built in the 15th century;
• Medium fortified enclosure composed of one bastion that nowadays represents the house of the watchman and some wooden stairs which are crossing through one of the towers and represents the main entrance tourists are using to explore the surroundings;
• Exterior fortified enclosure composed of a tower and gate tower which are showing off a new architecture than what we are used discovering, called zwinger.

Thus, as spectacular and full of stories the whole landscape looks like, the only thing you need while visiting the Fortified Church of Biertan is time - because every single wall and tower used to have its own tasks and visiting it in the 21st century won't make any less important or interesting, but actually the opposite.

The polyptych altar of the church is the biggest piece from the country and probably a rare exemplar in the whole Europe because it's composed of 28 painted panels which was realized between 1483-1513 by two craftsmen from Nürnberg and Viena where each scene represents the life of Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, the baptism of the Lord, Cutting Around and various other paintings depicting saints of the Catholic cult.
Each church has it's own altar which comes with something different than the others, but the one from the Fortified Church of Biertan is considered unique in Europe due to the high number of panels which was very uncommon even on those times.
However, the altar was not always there because, during the administration of the Roman Catholic cult, everything you could see was just a statue of the Virgin Mary that represented the leader of the church but which later on was replaced with a crucifix from the middle of the altar and then completed with the rest of the panels.

A more rare piece that was definitely my favourite was the sacristy door that was coming with a complicate system of locking the door, counting no less than 19 latches.
This one was realized by the craftsmen back in 1515 and it represents a genuine example of the medieval Saxon manufacture which works even in these days.
There was one one key that was opening up 4 of the latches, and a crank that was taking care of the rest 15 latches.
The wooden door was what we call these days a safe-deposit box where all valuables of the community were being kept safe.
However, this piece couldn't escape without being prizewinning into the Mondial Exhibition from 1900 at Paris and it's the real proof that the elements from the inside of the church are priceless values whose story goes centuries ago but which somehow still manages to catch the attention of the modern people too.

A more modern piece which I remember seeing in lots of churches around Transylvania is the pipe organ realized back in 1523 but which around 300 years later Karl Hesse from Viena took care of it making the whole piece also become unique for the country and Europe while bringing some modifications.
Thus, today we won't discover just one of the many pipe organs churches have, but a pipe organ composed of 1290 tubes, 25 registers, two clavier and one crank. Of course the whole landscape is completed by lots of numbers written on the columns, panels with more information, wooden benches where every step makes a different sound and offers a unique feeling, but also by the red carpets and tiny flags of the past guilds which are still fluttering like nothing happened during the ages that haven't passed without leaving their markers.

Now, a more modern place that could actually work as well during the 21st century, is a small room located in the eastern tower that represented a real prison for the couples who wanted to break up after a failed marriage.
This might sound a little bit funny, but in reality, everything was way more complicated because for two weeks, the room was dedicated to a single couple who were planning to divorce.
The room was just a few meters wide and had just a tiny table and bed but also a single plate, cutlery and mug to be used for water.
This was actually the most extreme punishment given to a couple that was not even talking to each other, but however the things worked pretty well because all the couples that were locked down (except one) managed to come to terms and actually learn how to live with each other, having just very little in their lives.

If we get a little bit back to the current situation young couples are confronting with, I honestly believe this kind of punishment would solve a lot of things and make more people open their eyes and learn to live more because there could always be less in their lives and still manage to love each other.

Anyway, a more different thing than what we are used to seeing in the courtyard of the church was a rock which had actually never be moved because back to the times from the past on every Sunday it was used to embarrass the thieves and people who did bad things.
They were tied up and literally left there for hours to be seen by the whole community and learn from whom to stay away to avoid different situations.
It was actually everything they could do because the rules at those times were quite different and since the church was never part of the crimes and cruel things, they found a better way to punish the people who were doing bad things during the week and teach them how to get integrated into the community of the settlement.
However, just as I said a little bit earlier, the single thing you need during this journey is time because there are quite a lot of things to be discovered and which are opening up a portal in front of you that makes you teleport yourself into those times when the tools, rules, and people have almost nothing in common with the 21st century.

And even though the Fortified Church of Biertan was included on the UNESCO World Heritage back in 1993, there are still way too little people who are going to discover and explore it. And I honestly believe it's a huge loss since everything was so well-maintained during the ages, exclusively using the funds gathered from the donations made by the locals, who are currently living in Europe, the USA and Australia for a better living.

Therefore, our first warning sign that we are going to make the steps into the medieval world, was made by the 100 meters long wooder stairs that I mentioned before, which makes the connection between the exterior and interior side of the fortification and are coated by the main tower, dating since 1795.

The stairs might seem not too long at first, but I honestly lost the counting while going up to them so I can only say that they are long enough to make you take a few breaks and look around you and be thankful for the life you are currently living because back in those times there were lots of people happier than you also having less than what you are currently having. 🙂

As soon as you climb the last stairs, you will realize that nothing from what you've seen before getting into the improvised tunnel is the same with the landscape that is waiting for you at the end of the ladder, because a fresher, historical, and greenery landscape makes you add a few more pages to the history and culture of Romania and especially Transylvania where some of the strongest and more important fortified churches can be found.

Schedule of visiting:

1. November – March:

• Monday: closed ;
• Tuesday - Sunday: 11 AM - 3 PM .

2. April – May:

• Monday: closed ;
• Tuesday - Friday: 11 AM - 3 PM ;
• Saturday - Sunday: 10 AM - 5 PM .

3. June - August:

• Monday: closed ;
• Tuesday - Friday: 11 AM - 3 PM ;
• Saturday - Sunday: 10 AM - 7 PM .

4. September - October:

• Monday: closed ;
• Tuesday - Friday: 11 AM - 3 PM ;
• Saturday - Sunday: 10 AM - 5 PM .

Taxes and fees for visiting:

• Adult/Student/Retired Ticket Ticket: 10 RON / 2.05 EUR ;
• Photography/Videography Tax: FREE ;
• Guide (Romanian, English, Germany available): FREE (Already included in the price) .

In one of the main towers, nowadays it can be found a library where you can sit and read for a while, but as soon as you buy the ticket and begin going up on the stairs, you'll definitely get a different feeling and end up the journey with a scenery view and fresher memories that will last into your heart forever, so if you ever get to discover Transylvania, never forget about the fortified churches and the historical monuments which have so many to offer and share with the tourists. 😀

The full address of the Fortified Church of Biertan is 1 Decembrie Street, 557045, Biertan, Sibiu and it can be accessed very easily from the central square also called 1 Decembrie. The tiny village is located in the southern side of Sibiu County which is 75 km away from the city. However, don't forget about the schedule because the church has just a few hours available for the tourists' visits.

SEE YOU IN THE NEXT TRIP! 🗾

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