First published: 31/01/24.

Clyde 3.0

Villages With Fortified Churches

Villages with Fortified Churches (Inscribed)

Villages with Fortified Churches by Clyde

I visited all locations of this WHS by car except the one in Darjiu using Sibiu and Brasov as my bases. Although most of these villages with fortified churches were quite remote, all have very good roads leading to them except for the last couple of metres of some of them which were unpaved so I parked my car and used this as an excellent excuse to explore the old colourful villages before most of their fortified churches. The horse-drawn wooden carts were still in use in 2023 although are being quickly replaced by cars.

In the summer months, practically all fortified churches are open from 10am to 5pm (with some closed on Mondays). All of them have UNESCO WHS signs proudly displayed but no actual inscription plaque. All of them charge cheap separate entrance tickets which are necessary the be able to view the church structures properly and climb their fortifications for a panoramic view of the villages. I entered all six locations, but if you're pressed for time, make sure not to miss paying for the entrance ticket of the fortified churches of Viscri and Biertan. Darjiu apparently has interesting yet minor frescoes so I hope to get the chance to visit in the near future.

As usual, the best times for photography are early morning and late afternoon, well before the opening/closing times, and I had a field day with my small drone. A really tend to enjoy these treasure hunt serial WHS and Romania has 3 such WHS so make sure to have a look at the very useful map on this website a keep it handy during your trip. In Prejmer-Tartlau, the "keeper of the key" has been replaced by an odd ticket vending machine with turnstyle entrance which is highly indicative of the bus loads of group tours centered around the nearby Dracula castle of Bran.

At Viscri, I really enjoyed visiting the village property owned by King Charles. While on the way to Calnic I stopped to buy some fresh blueberries from an old farmer selling his produce who caught my attention by waving excitedly at me (after he noticed my car's number plate). Apparently, when he was young, he used to work in Luxembourg just a few blocks from where I live (it's truly a small world after all!).

All in all, I really enjoyed the locations visited and they are a good sample of the hundreds of other villages with fortified churches in Transylvania.

   

 

 

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