UNESCO
Saschiz
Saschiz is an old center of renowned carpenters and wood painters. The local craftsmen where employed all over Transilvania to decorate castles and churches. It was here also that in 1702 the Saschiz blue pottery was born. The local fortress was built between the 14th and 15th centuries and has high walls (7-9 m), 6 fortified towers and a water well 50m deep. There is also a fortified evangelic church built in 1496, in gothic style.
Viscri
The name of this church comes from the German "Weisse Khirche", meaning white church. The romanians who live in the area changed the german name to "viscri" to make it easier for them to pronounce. Peculiar about this church is the fact that inside, the gothic church has no gothic voult, but a plain straight ceiling.
Biertan
Biertan is mentioned for the first time in a written document in 1283. It developed into a flourishing crafts and trade centre during the Middle Ages, always in competition with its neighbour market town of Medias.
The fortified church of Biertan was built in the place of on old basilica at the end of the 15th century with architectural elements from the late-Gothic and renaissance style. The walls, which surround the church in three rows, were built in several stages: the inner enclosure was already built in the 14th century to protect the old basilica. The second enclosure was erected in the 15th century and the third one as well as the 8 towers and the bastions were built during the 16th century. The altar is the "gem" of Biertan church, as it is considered not only one of the biggest, but also the most beautiful Gothic folding triptychs in Transilvania. It is made-up of 28 pre-Reformation plates, dating from 1483 and attributed to the Vienna "Schottenmeister" school. The Sacristy Door is another of the churches "jewels". The oak door, with inlaid work, dates from 1515 and has a huge lock with a complicated mechanism on its backside. This was awarded a prize at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900 as it was considered a masterpiece of Transilvanian arts and crafts. The Church of Biertan, served, for 300 years as the residence of the Lutheran bishop of Transilvania.
Today, it is one of the Romania's most important historical and architectural monuments, included in 1993 on the UNESCO list of World Heritage.
Valea Viilor
The fortified Evangelic church was built in 14th century, in gothic style, and is the largest peasant church in Transylvania. It has water well in the centre of the choir to provide water for the locals during the sieges. Also the church displays Old Saxon furniture from 1526.
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