Romania, Saschiz Fortified Church
Photographer:Samuel Magal (samuel@sites-and-photos.com)
The Saschiz fortified church is a Lutheran fortified church in Saschiz (Keisd), Mureș County, in the Transylvania region of Romania. It was built by the ethnic German Transylvanian Saxon community at a time when the area belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary. Initially Roman Catholic, it became Lutheran following the Reformation. Together with the surrounding village, the church forms part of the villages with fortified churches in Transylvania UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Saxon Fortified Church from Saschiz ( Biserica saseasca din Saschiz) ✔
➤“Biserica evanghelică fortificată din Saschiz, județul Mureș, a fost construită în secolul al XIII-lea.Pe locul unde altă dată se afla o bazilică romanică, s-a ridicat în 1493 o mare biserică fortificată în onoarea regelui Ștefan I al Ungariei. Biserica masivă, construită din piatră de carieră, în stil gotic, este de tip sală, întărită cu 22 de contraforturi. Sala este foarte lată și lungă, iar corul este închis pe trei laturi. În 1496 a fost terminat corul bisericii, iar în 1525 toate lucrările au fost terminate. Un nivel de apărare a fost construit dincărămidă deasupra sălii și a corului, în mod similar fiind ridicate deasupra bolții stelate a sacristiei încă două niveluri. Biserica are trei portaluri cu ambrazuri terminate în arc frânt. Prin vestul bisericii se află două turnulețe din cărămidă prin care se face accesul în interior. Prin intermediul unor arcade late care sunt sprijinite pe retragerile contraforturilor este susținut parapetul etajului de apărare care mascheză gurile de turnare. Deasupra tuturor se ridică doi pereți de grosime mică care au rol în diminuarea pătrunderii proiectilelor aruncate din exterior. Pereții au prevăzute metereze la care se poate ajunge printr-un coridor din lemn. Înglobat în sistemul defensiv este și turnul sacristiei care se regăsește sub acelaș acoperiș al bisericii și care se ridică deasupra etajului de apărare cu 16 metri.
Asemănător cu biserica fortificată din Moșna, corul păstrează parțial boltirea originală prevăzută cu penetrații. Se poate vedea și coronamentul unui tabernacul care lasă impresia unei marimi considerabile similare cu cel din Moșna. Tot aici, se află două lespezi, una a preotului Martin Roselerus, ea fiind atribuită marelui sculptor Elias Nicolai și una mai veche a unui preot Conradus.”
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Viscri Romania, Rustic Transylvanian Saxon Hilltop Fortress Church
In the 1150's German settlers came to now Romania Transylvania to settle. Inhabited for 800 + years, Viscri is a UNESCO world heritage site between Brasov and Sighisoara. It is rarely visited by foreigners as it is off the main road. We ventured into rustic Transylvania and enjoyed witnessing a rustic Saxon settlement with a bulwark hilltop fortress and church. Come and enjoy the visit
Saschiz Saxon fortified Church
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Saschiz - UNESCO heritage - Mures, Romania
The Evangelic Church
The Evangelic Church of Saschiz was built at the end of the XV th century (between 1493 - 1496) by the Saxon colonists. The monument is very impressive due to its huge proportions and to the way that the fortifying elements have been adapted to the shape of a church building. Above the choir there is a fortified floor as well as a watch road above the great arches. From the outside, the church appears to be a bulwark, but the defensive destination of the monument is surpassed by the beauty of its gothic elements of architecture: huge arches, massive buttress and decorative elements made out of stone or bricks. Due to the significant distance between the centre of the village and the hill on which the Saxon fortress was built, over the years, the fortified Evangelic church became the main refuge for the inhabitants of Saschiz.
The Clock Tower
The Clock Tower from Saschiz is one of Transylvania's most beautiful medieval monuments that belongs, as well as the fortified church, to the Saxon architecture of the XVth century. Even today, the Tower marks the centre of Saschiz. Its defensive destination is obvious and we can still see the 12 skylights and the four little towers on the corners. The roof's decoration and shape clearly indicate the tower which served as a model to its builders, that is the Clock Tower from Sighisoara. Today everybody can admire the Evangelic Church and the Clock Tower only a few meters away from the European road (E60) that crosses the centre of Saschiz.
The Saxon Fortress
The Saxon Fortress that still dominates Saschiz is another trace left by the restless times of the Middle-Ages. It was built during the XIV th 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. Work started in 1347, as an inscription on the North-Western wall clearly indicates. On the same wall (7 to 9 meters tall) there were built the four corner towers and the two gate towers, all with a definite watch and defense purpose. The names of those towers' the School Tower, the Munitions Tower, the Voivode Tower, the Priests Tower and the Guard Towers' show how well the community was organized at the time. Inside the fortress there was a chapel, now a beautiful ruin. The only actual remain is the 65m deep fountain that it is said to connect, by a tunnel, the precincts with the centre of the village.
Saschiz, Mures 4K
Traversare sat Saschiz, filmat in 4K
Saschiz, mai demult Saschizd, Chizd (în dialectul săsesc Keist, Kaest, în germană Keisd, Kaisd, Keißd, Kaißd, Hünenburg, Hujnerschburg;, în maghiară Szászkézd) este satul de reședință al comunei cu același nume din județul Mureș, Transilvania, România.
Satul Saschiz este atestat documentar din anii 1308-1310. Localitatea Saschiz (cunoscută în limba română și sub denumirile alternative Saschizd, Chizd) a fost populată de secui până la sfârșitul secolului al XIII-lea, când a devenit o localitate populată preponderent de sași, sub denumirea de Kaissdit (cunoscută în limba germană și sub denumirile alternative Hünenburg, Hujnerschburg, Keisd, Kaisd, Keißd, Kaißd [in Weinland, Königsboden], iar în dialectul săsesc Keist, Kaest).
Crossing Saschiz village, filmed in 4K.
Saschiz (German: Keisd; Hungarian: Szászkézd, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈsaːskeːzd]; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: Kisd) is a commune in Mureș County, Romania. It has a population of 2,048: 88% Romanians, 5% Germans, 4% Hungarians and 3% Roma. It is composed of three villages: Cloașterf, Mihai Viteazu (Zoltan until 1932) and Saschiz.
Saschiz, with its 15th-century church, is part of the World Heritage Site Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, designated in 1999 by UNESCO.
Transylvania - Saxon fortified churches (2012)
Cycling holiday visiting Viscri (min 0:14), Valea Viilor ( 2:25), Biertan (3:58), Rasnov (5:23), Prejmer (6:33), Homorod (8:18) among others (8:48)
These Transylvanian villages with their fortified churches provide a vivid picture of the cultural landscape of southern Transylvania. Seven villages are inscribed by UNESCO as world heritage sites. They illustrate building styles and settlement pattern from the 13th to the 16th century.
In the 13th century the kings of Hungary encouraged the colonization of the sub-Carpathian region of Transylvania by a German-speaking population of artisans, farmers and merchants, mainly from the Rhineland. Known as the Transylvanian Saxons, they enjoyed special privileges granted by the Hungarian Crown. TheTransylvanian Saxons were able to preserve their language and customs intact throughout the centuries.
Exposed to danger from the Ottoman Empire, Saxons built defensive works in order to shelter from invaders. Lacking the resources of the European nobility and rich merchants, who were able to fortify entire towns, the Transylvanian Saxons chose to create fortresses round their churches, enclosing storehouses to enable them to withstand long sieges. The seven UNESCO churches are:
BIERTAN: Late Gothic hall-type building, completed around 1522-1523, with two (later three) lines of walls, at the foot of the hill, built at the same time as the church.
CALNIC: Based on a mid-13th-century dwelling tower, a chapel and an oval enceinte; presented in 1430 to the village community, which raised the walls fitted with two towers and transformed the dwelling tower into one for defensive purposes.
PREJMER: Early Gothic Church of the Holy Cross, in the shape of a cross; walled in the 15th century.
VISCRI: Romanesque chapel enlarged in the early 16th century to form a single-nave church, with a fortified storey resting on semicircular arches supported by massive buttresses; walls strengthened in the 17th century.
DARJIU: Late Gothic church fortified towards 1520, decorated with murals going back to 1419; rectangular enceinte restructured in the 17th century.
SASCIZ: Romanesque church and its enceinte replaced by a late Gothic church (1493-1525); defensive storey gives the church the appearance of a high bastion.
VALEA VIILOR: Church transformed into late Gothic style and fortified in the early 16th century; defensive storeys built above the choir, nave and tower, communicating with each other; porches of the northern and southern entrances protected by small towers with portcullises.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
Fortified Saxon Settlement at Prejmer, Transylvania, Romania
Near Brasov in Transylvania, there's a fabulous UNESCO-listed fortified settlement at Prejmer. The village surrounding the site's not up to much, but the 'castle' itself is a sight to wander around. Attacked 50 times and only overwhelmed the once. For more, see ourtour.co.uk!
Romania HiLites: Viscri, A Transylvanian Saxon Fortified Church
The place is first mentioned in a document from around 1400 under the name Alba Ecclesia. The Latin form of the name corresponds to the old name Vyskirch, the Saxon Waiskirich and the Hungarian Szószfeheregyhaza. The Romanian name Vicri derives from the Saxon name. Politically Deutsch-Weisskirch became a free commune with the disempowerment of the Graf dynasty. This occurred in the second half of the 15th century at the latest..
In 1999, the fortified church and the village were included, together with six other places in southern Transylvania, in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List thus acknowledging an ensemble which, in terms of its settlement structure, the structure of the parcels of land as well as the architecture of the buildings and their fittings, has almost completely preserved the character of a typical Saxon Transylvanian village over a period of centuries. The standard type of farmstead remained the same from the time of the wooden buildings over and beyond the appearance of the first stone ones at the end of the 17th century up until the first third of the 20th century. The few younger buildings inconspicuously blend in with the general appearance of the village.
Situated above this is the castle forecourt with the former house of the castle custodian which was originally integrated in the outer ring wall of the fortification. This wall, of which only parts have survived, was built in the second half of the 17th or in the first half of the 18th century. In terms of its position, the church of Deutsch-Weisskirch is a hill cas¬tle, from the point of view of its construction and function it is, like most Transylvanian-Saxon defensible churches, a so-called fortified church, i.e. a church within a ring wall defended by towers.
SASCHIZ FORTIFIED CHURCH ROMANIA
Fortified churches in Transylvania Romania
Fortified churches:
1-2 Biertan Church,
3-4,Church Axente Sever
5-6 Church Saschiz
7-8-9 Viscri Church,
10-11-12 Church Prejmer
13-14-15 Church Calnic
Personal photos.
Background music Chopin - Waltz Op 70 February Bem M
Movile (Hundertbücheln) - Biserica Fortificată Săsească / Saxon Fortified Church
Saxon Fortified Church at Biertan
The church at Biertan is possibly the best-known of all the Saxon fortified churches of Transylvania. Birthalm, as it is known in German, was constructed in the early 16th century and was the seat of the Lutheran bishops in Siebenburgen from 1572 until 1867. These photos were taken by me on our second Romanian trip in September, 2007.
Kultur.Sibiu: Biserica fortificata din Saschiz
Kultur.Sibiu - proiect editorial HotNews.ro - Deutsche Welle. Cele mai frumoase biserici fortificate din Transilvania.
Cu sprijinul Selgros, Therme, Amabasada Romaniei la Berlin.
Saxon Fortified Church from Viscri (Biserica sasesca fortificata din Viscri) ✔
➤Viscri is only one of the Saxon villages of Transylvania. Of course, is a special one, due to his great fortified church which is part of UNESCO World Heritage.
When the Saxons came here, at the end of 12th century, they have found a little chappel, which suffered transformations during the time. The actual church of Viscri is a romanesque chapel enlarged in the early 16th century to form a single-nave church, with a fortified storey resting on semicircular arches supported by massive buttresses; walls strengthened in the 17th century (UNESCO description). A very interesting museum is part of the citadel.
Still now, Viscri is a small village, with no more than 500 inhabitants, from which only about 27 are Saxons. People say that Viscri hide the most picturesque fortified church of the Saxons from Transylvania.
Viscri is also known due to the great job in restoring done by the Mihai Eminescu Trust, the foundation patroned by The Prince of Wales.
According to Viscri-info.ro (
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BEAUTIFUL ROMANIA - BIERTAN, SASCHIZ, RUPEA | 09
As I promised, here's the second part of my trip with ATGR (Romanian Tourist Guide Association), where we stopped to visit The Fortified Church of Biertan, The Fortified Church of Saschiz and Rupea Citadel. I hope you enjoy to see these lovely parts of Romania's History because I sure did filming them. Love the drone shots, I think they really emphasize the structures of these wonderful landmarks and they help me to better show you around. If you want to see more, or have an idea of what you would like to see on Beautiful Romania, please leave a comment and I'll reply. Enjoy the vlog!
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Cetatea Țărănească din Saschiz
Cetatea Taraneasca din Saschiz
Cetatea taraneasca ce domina si acum Saschiz-ul este inca o urma a framantarilor epocii medievale. Construita pe un deal impadurit, la aproximativ 2 km de vatra satului, fortificatia a fost ridicata in secolul al XIV-lea pentru a proteja de invazii pe locuitorii din Saschiz si din alte sase comune alaturate, care au ajutat la construirea ei. Si cetatea este opera comunitatii germane din zona, de aceea trebuie remarcat specificul acestui loc de refugiu in conditiile in care majoritatea fortificatiilor sasesti au fost ridicate in jurul bisericilor din centrul asezarii.
Lucrarile au inceput in anul 1347, dupa cum indica o inscriptie de pe zidul de NV al cetatii. Tot in zidul de incinta (inalt de 7-9 metri) au fost inserate si cele patru turnuri de colt si cele doua de poarta, toate cu functii de supraveghere si de aparare. Denumirile acestor turnuri: Turnul Scoalei, Turnul Munitiei, Turnul Voievodal, Turnul Preotului, Turnul Portii si Turnul de Paza, reflecta buna organizare a comunitatii. In interiorul cetatii se afla o capela, din care astazi nu a mai ramas decat o ruina. Singura urma intacta este fantana adanca de 65 de m care se spune ca face legatura, printr-un tunel subteran, intre incinta cetatii si centrul comunei Saschiz.
Ca si stil arhitectonic, cetatea apartine perioadei de trecere de la stilul romanic la cel gotic (este terminata in secolul al XIV-lea), fapt confirmat de acoperisul intr-o singura panta si de gurile de tragere prevazute cu o grinda din lemn care se putea roti pentru a putea inlesni ochirea cu ghiulele si arcuri de sageti. Detaliile tehnice sunt insa depasite de frumusetea ruinei care isi proiecteaza silueta fantomatica printre copacii de pe marginea drumului de acces, invitand calatorii sa-si elibereze imaginatia printre zidurile ei.
Informații de pe site-ul
Camera: Georgiana și Mihai Andrei Cațan
Muzica: ”Lacurile lui Mac” - Vali Rotari
Montajul: Mihai Andrei Cațan
Un film produs de: Mihai Andrei Cațan
Romania. Cetatea Targu Mures, Sighisoara, Cetatea Taranesca Saschiz, Rupea, Feldioara.Octombrie2018
Romania. Cetatea Targu Mures, Sighisoara, Cetatea Taraneasca Saschiz, Rupea, Feldioara. Octombrie 2018
Transylvania's elderflower business blossoms
(3 Jul 2012) LEADIN
Transylvania's elderflower business is blossoming.
The area is considered Europe's last great lowland landscape and locals are beginning to harvest the benefits of its king crop.
STORYLINE:
In the heart of Transylvania, miles and miles of wildflower-rich grasslands surround the small 13th century town of Saschiz.
Elderflowers are everywhere here.
They are so abundant that a study found 26 tons of elderflowers bought by a British company from 1,200 residents represents just 3 to 4 percent of the local elderflower harvest.
Cornel Stanciu, a worker at ADEPT, a foundation that protects Transylvanian farms, explains the town's elderflower plants are bringing much-needed business opportunities:
Out of elderflowers you can make both juice and concentrate. Also you can make elderflower jam which is very appreciated. And very interesting, he says.
This tranquil haven depicts rural scenes that look like pages from Grimms' fairy tales.
With its UNESCO heritage site of a Saxon fortified church and lush meadows, it is an unspoiled treasure.
But with unemployment in the town of 2-thousand people standing at 30 percent, the ancient sustainable landscape is being put to good use.
Local pickers are rediscovering the treasures of their back gardens.
According to the local manufacturer, more than 1-thousand of the poorest local people here are direct beneficiaries of this activity, half of them women and children.
In many cases, collecting wild flowers is their only source of income.
They deliver bags of elderflowers to a local factory and receive payment according to weight.
With one flower weighing 6 grams only, collecting 26 tons of elderflower - as they did in last spring - is quite an exercise.
The Transylvania Food Company (TFC) transforms the plants into semi-finished elderflower juice.
A British company, the Food development Company Ltd (FDC), is buying most of its produce.
Jim Turnbull, founder of FDC, indicates the possibilities ahead:
We are putting a huge amount of money into the community every May and June just for elderflower, but we are using the same teams to collect other fruit and berries that we are making into jams and juices.
After the flowers are picked, the juice is extracted from the scented cream petals and is then sent to Britain to be bottled as delicate elderflower cordial, sold in upmarket supermarkets and pubs.
Sugar, lemon, a touch of citric acid and water complete the recipe of the quintessentially English cordial.
Elderflower cordial is becoming one of the UK's fastest growing soft drinks exports, and there's growing demand for the precious blossom.
The circle is closed when the finished elderflower products are exported back to Romania.
But elderflowers are not the only reason Saschiz is generating interest.
Better known for the myth of Count Dracula, the region is experiencing a timid revival, with famous regular visitors, like Britain's Prince Charles, attracting attention.
Saschiz is only 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the fabled town of Sighisoara, where Vlad the Impaler, the bloodthirsty Romanian prince who inspired Bram Stoker's 19th century Dracula novel, was born.
Locals and conservationists hope that a careful balancing act between small-scale farming and tourism will bring prosperity while preserving the area's rich natural diversity.
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Biserica fortificată - DÂRJIU - The Fortified Church (Transylvania, Romania)
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A székelyderzsi unitárius vártemplom
Dârjiu (în maghiară Székelyderzs) este un sat secuiesc situat în partea sud-estică a Transilvaniei, la circa 18 Km sud-vest de Odorheiu Secuiesc. Biserica unitariană de la Dârjiu este singura secuiască care face parte din grupul celor șapte biserici fortificate din Transilvania incluse în anul 1999 pe lista UNESCO a patrimoniului cultural mondial, celelalte șase biserici fiind săsești (în general evanghelice): Biertan, Prejmer, Viscri, Saschiz, Câlnic și Valea Viilor. Bisericuța catolică inițială, construită în 1270, va fi extinsă în secolele al XIV-lea și al XV-lea. Din 1419 datează pictura pictura interioară, renumită fiind fresca cu legenda Sfântului rege Ladislau. Atacurile asupra ei, dar și Reforma protestantă de la începutul secolului al XVI-lea, atrag modificări constructive importante, fortificarea (ziduri, bastioane, dar și biserica în sine), precum și trecerea la ritul reformat. În prezent, biserica are nu numai un rol religios activ, dar constituie și o componentă socială importantă și de tradiție în viața satului, în fostele fortificații fiind depozitate produse de carne afumată care se pun și se iau respectându-se vechi cutume. În ultimii ani, complexul a fost renovat și anumite spații au fost amenajate ca muzeu etnografic.
Dârjiu (Székelyderzs, in Hungarian) is a Szekler village located in the south-eastern part of Transylvania, about 18 km southwest of Odorheiu Secuiesc. The Unitarian Church in Dârjiu is the only Szekler church who is part of the group of seven fortified churches in Transylvania included in 1999 on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the other six churches being Saxon (generally evangelical): Biertan, Prejmer, Viscri, Saschiz, Câlnic and Valea Viilor. The original Catholic church, built in 1270, will be extended in the 14th and 15th centuries. The interior painting dates back to 1419, being renowned the fresco with the legend of Saint king Ladislau. The attacks on it, but also the Protestant Reformation at the beginning of the 16th century, bring important constructive changes, the fortification (walls, bastions, but also the church itself), as well as the transition to the reformed rite. At present, the church has not only an active religious role, but also an important social and traditional social component in the village's life, with the former fortifications storing smoked meat products that are placed and taked being respected old customs. In recent years, the complex has been renovated and some spaces have been set up as an ethnographic museum.