The village of Biertan, one of the most important Saxon villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, first mentioned in an official document in 1283, is located 80 km away from Sibiu.
Throughout the years, Biertan was an important winegrowing and handiwork center, with trades being kept nowadays, too. It is famous for wines produced here, but mostly for the fortified church, one of the best preserved in Transylvania and the most important tourist interest in the city, which lure thousands of tourists every year.
The first documentary testimony about the village dates from 1283 and was made by natives, Saxons, and since 1397 is certified as a city, after enhancing the church in the village. The late Gothic church with Renaissance specific elements was included in the UNESCO Heritage in 1993.
Biertan Church was built in the place of a smaller one between 1490 and 1524 and adopted the late Gothic style. It is the largest church hall type, meaning it has 3 equally halls, tourism manager Andreea Lenghel said as quoted by realitatea.net.
The sacristy’ door was built in 1515 and has a locking system with 19 points, all around. It was awarded at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1910 and was declared unique in Europe.
The fortified church shelters a special place for the tourists, namely the prison’s bastion where couples who wanted to divorce were locked. The locals’ stories say that couples that wanted to break the marriage were locked inside this tower, where they had only one bed, one table, one plate, one set of covers, and one glass. It is no longer known how many years elapsed since a husband and a wife have been locked in there, but it is said that one divorce has been registered in 300 years.
Visit program: daily from April till October from 10:00 to 17:00.