Biertan Fortified Church

Biertan is the most imposing of the Transylvanian fortified churches, built between the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries and defended by three concentric rings of walls with towers and gates, climbing the hill above the village square. The church inside is a late Gothic hall with a spectacular carved altarpiece of nearly thirty panels and a sacristy door whose lock mechanism, with its nineteen bolts moved by a single key, was shown at the Paris world exhibition. A covered wooden stairway climbs from the square to the gate. Biertan was the seat of the Saxon Lutheran bishops for nearly three centuries, which explains its scale relative to the small village around it. One tower housed the marriage prison, where couples seeking divorce were shut in together with a single bed, plate and spoon until they reconciled, a story every guide tells and which the surviving records support.

What you actually see

• The triple walls - three defensive rings with towers climbing the hill.
• The carved altarpiece - a large multi-panel polyptych in the hall church.
• The sacristy door lock - a nineteen-bolt mechanism worked by one key.
• The marriage prison - the small tower room with its single bed and utensils.

When to go

April to October; opening hours are shorter in winter and the church may close entirely on some winter days. Sunday mornings have services. The village is quiet on weekdays, which is when the site is at its best.

Honest expectations

The church is unheated and cold even in summer. Interpretation is limited and often only in Romanian and German. The village has few services beyond a couple of guesthouses. The climb through the covered stair and up to the towers is steep. Some towers are closed for safety.

Nearby

Sighișoara is half an hour east; Mediaș and its leaning tower lie north.