BRASOV County

The church of Sînpetru was built in 1794 instead of a 14th-century medieval basilica, which was demolished after the tower had been demolished twice. The new neoclassical construction has, contrary to the canons, the chorus in the west. In 1817 a defense tower was added. The interior is completely neoclassically decorated, from the organ and little decorated pillars to the altar with columns of choir.

From the triple defense wall of the fifteenth century, only the ruins of the two outer fortifications were preserved, the inner wall being totally preserved, with the 5 defensive towers and bastions, and with the two-storey vaults. In the southern part of the ensemble, the old school and the old town hall were later erected. The walls of the pre-reform chapel built in sec. the 13th century in the north of the ensemble are decorated with valuable wall paintings made around 1400. The chapel is fortified two centuries later by building two levels, gaining the look of a tower it still has today.

Photos and information: kirchenburgen.org

The church fortress in Codlea is dominated by the tower of the bell tower, which, after completing the various stages of the construction, has reached the walls of 5m in thickness. The church was built in the 13th century, and in the 15th century it was transformed into a Gothic church. The first Ottoman invasions convinced the locals that they would need a good defense. This was surrounded by an enclosure wall with a height of over 8m and a thickness of 2m, provided with shooting holes and throwing holes. Inside it there were built a warehouse, so besides people's lives, their goods were protected.

The interior of the church is dominated by the painted cassette ceiling, made up of 252 panels, made at the beginning of the 18th century. Not less impressive is the organ of 1783, the work of Master Prause in Silesia, one of the most valuable instruments in Transylvania, whose painter Oelhahn was occupied.

From the promenade set up in Codlea, the visitor can admire the fortified church, having the opportunity to dream about its secular history. Maybe imagine this picture so picturesque 400 years ago, when Prince Gabriel Báthory besieged the city. He promised the inhabitants and soldiers of Braşov that he would spare their lives and goods if they voluntarily surrender. But he did not keep his promise.

The newly created museum, whose full name is 'Museum of Codlea - Museum of Codenic Traditions and Local Public Administration', is the result of a successful project implemented by European funds and started its activity on 01.04.2016.

The building is in the historical monuments list, being in the past the old town hall and then the polyclinic, with a total area of ​​827 square meters disposed on three levels: basement, ground floor and floor.

On May 13, 2016, in less than two months since the beginning of its activity, the building was inaugurated opening its doors for hosting the first organized event, namely 'Exhibition of donations' at the building's demisel, a vernissage in which they were exhibited great goods donated by the community until that date.

The exhibition enjoys a real success even today, adding up to the end of 2016 a total of 4,552 visitors, of which more than half are tourists from outside the locality and the country, the other half being represented by the citizens of Codleni, eager to discover Codlea from its beginnings.

The Legends of Codlea and Macheta of the Black Fortress together with its story represent a major attraction of the exhibition, along with the old photos of Codlea, the works of the codele personalities, the elements of the traditional ports of the ethnicities that have remained on the territory of the city since ancient times, carpentry and household, old books and things done in Codlea, which have been donated and exposed to the delight of the lover of art and history.

Source: www.municipiulcodlea.ro

The chapel was built in the second half of the century. XIII in Cincşor and was the starting point for the uplifting of the current church completed in 1421. The edifice was fortified in turn in the 14th century. XV-XVI. The choir was supported with counter-arms and provided with a guarded road, a built-in system and a bell tower. The villagers raised around the church an enclosure wall with four defensive towers and a water ditch outside.

The village boasts many traditional Saxon households that have been well preserved over the years. Unlike the changing times of the past, Cincşor is today a quiet place where the summer months vibrate in unison with orgy music in the church.

In the following centuries the village faced heavy times. Among many troubles was completely destroyed by a fire during the attacks of 1599. The community began to prosper only after 1850, when not far from the locality was built for the first time a bridge over the river Olt.

In the parochial house and in the school building are arranged comfortable guest rooms in a harmonious Transylvanian style. Guests and visitors can also enjoy various culinary specialties. The 'New Transylvanian Kitchen' offers traditional dishes from fresh regional produce and is a true delight.

Photos and information: kirchenburgen.org

In the settlement founded already in the sec. The thirteenth century by the Teutonic Knights is from the 19th century. 15th century a Gothic basilica, resulting from the reconstruction of a previous Romanic building. In the fortification, it was surrounded by a defensive wall with five defensive towers, to which a zwinger and a ditch were added a little later, and the tower of the church was provided with firing holes. After the destruction of 1658, the church was rebuilt in its original form. However, the ship's vault dates back to 1775. The Gothic construction period preserves the planimetric composition, the plastic of the windows, the gothic ribbed vault of the choir and the apse of the apse. From the rebuilding period dates the toothed roof of the tower with a bell-tower level.

The interior design is sec. Eighteenth century. Unique in Transylvania is the ornamental-floral painting of 1902, which covers the walls and vaults of the Gothic interior.

Photos and information: kirchenburgen.org

From the Romanic basilica of the sec. XIII has kept only the triumphal arch. The Gothic choir raised two centuries later is covered with a vault on stone ribs that rests on consoles decorated with masks. Only after more than 50 years since the destruction of the edifice by the army of Gabriel Bathory, the church was rebuilt in 1665, the period of which dates back to the present vault of the choir and the cassette ceiling of the ship. The bell tower is raised to the west in more than a century away, with the wooden tribals mounted inside.

The inscriptions in the Latin and German languages, which are mentioned in a book of the church from the sec. eighteenth century. The wall of the sec. The XIV-XVs had access protected by hers (iron-reinforced wood grid) and throwing holes. Today the main entrance is masked by the town hall building. In the fortification can still be seen the well kept storehouses.

An interesting visit can be the one from the evangelical cemetery behind the church. Cavouries under the common roof, perimeter grooves and stories about those who rest there are worth discovering.

Photos and information: kirchenburgen.org

The Cristian Church with its double defense wall and its eight well-preserved defensive towers is an impressive example of medieval military architecture. The village was founded in the 19th century. the thirteenth century, when the Order of the Teutonic Knights built several fortresses in the region and recruited Saxon colonists.

Legend has it that the son of an influential striker in the Cristian area has been relinquished and disowned by his father because he fell in love with the wrong girl. But the young man's mother did not let her heart see her son in need, and gave it as compensation for the downfall of Ghimbav and the land belonging to it. The devoted son and girl settled in that place and founded a family. Over the years, more and more families have begun to move to that area, who wanted to get rid of the heart-shaped graft.

Thus a new colony, called the New City, was born around the mill. The settlement is at the foot of Mount Postavaru, which together with Poiana Braşov is one of the most popular destinations for winter sports in Romania and Braşov area.

Photos and information: kirchenburgen.org

Unfortunately, from the original defense systems of the fortified church in the city of Rasnov, nothing has been preserved, which was demolished entirely in 1831. In the fortress we find a building originally built as a Romanic basilica and subsequently reconstructed in Gothic style, which was preserved nowadays. The archways of the side ships have been altered, and the choir has been rebuilt. On the northern wall of the choir there are fragments of wall paintings depicting scenes with the Passion of Jesus.

The tower was built during the Gothic period. Interior furniture, with altar and organ, dates back to the 18th century, and the 19th century straight floor. Above the city there is the partially ruined, partially reconstructed peasant fortress, a renowned tourist attraction. The oldest elements of the building are from the 14th century, but the fortress used until the 18th century suffered many demolitions and reconstructions. Besides the ruins of a church, the ensemble shelters many defensive systems and canteens used today as souvenir shops and exhibition spaces.

Photos and information: kirchenburgen.org

On the Citadel Hill, archaeological researches have shown the existence of some fortifications since the Bronze Age. The defensive system consists of 3 ditches and so many waves of defense, placed in the vulnerable point, ie to the East. The Dacian fortification is before the Romans conquer Dacia and seems to find its end in the Dacian wars.

    The latest archaeological researches (2010) seem to confirm the existence on the Citadel Hill of the famous -Commodava- Dacian settlement mentioned between the brilliant city of Dacia by the geographer Claudius Ptolemeu of Alexandria, Egypt. Latinized, the toponym became -Cumidata- and under this form appears on a monument during the Roman Emperor Alexander Severus (222-235 after Christ).

 The medieval fortress is supposed to have been built between 1211-1225, as long as the Teutonic rule continued in Barsa Land, and after the Crusaders left, the wooden fortress was rebuilt or converted into a stone. Although there is no documentary evidence to confirm this hypothesis, however, the fortification of the hill since antiquity, the military tasks received by the Saxon community of the Land of Barsa in the second half of the 13th century, the construction technique, the foundation and elevation of the first premises, identified by most historians in the 13th century, could be arguments that support the hypothesis of the existence of a fortress before the first documentary mention.

On the occasion of the siege of 1613, the upper part of the Báthory Tower was destroyed. Beneath the cave wall remained the inventory of the defense tower: three cups of tin with a lid, weapons, tools, iron tools, stone cannons, ceramics, a gilded hairpin, and the most valuable part of the treasury 416 silver coins. -The tower defense was discovered in 2001.

Photos and information: www.rasnov-turism.ro