On a summer quest through Romania, I visited Biertan, the most prominent of the villages with fortified churches. Biertan is a small, colorful village and the fortified church in the center overshadows everything. It's built on a rock and has multiple layers of walls. The massive defenses feel a bit out of place, but it just goes to show how contested the area was in the past. The church itself is rather barren.

Best parts of my visit was strolling around the village and getting to experience the Romanian country side.

Getting There

Being villages, these places are not trivial to get to. I think there is the occasional (daily) bus, but best option is to take a cab from the closest nearby main town (Sighisoara, Mediaș, Sebeș).

In my case, I took the morning train from Sighisoara to Medias and a cab from there to Biertan. I had agreed on a price with the cabbie up front and he waited for my return. Honestly, I think the fixed rate wasn't required, meter would have been just fine.

Train schedules were tricky (infrequent), so my visit was cut short (1h on site). It's not a huge place, but 30min more would have been nice. One word of advice: If you are short on time, get the train ticket before heading to the site. When I came back to the train station, there were long queues at the station ticket office and I nearly missed my train.

While You Are There

A visit to Sighisoara and the Dacian fortresses should be part of your trip. Nearby Iulia Alba (T) is also a nice stopover. All sites are fortified pointing to the strategic importance of the region.