The fortified churches

The presence of the fortified churches dating from the 12th – 16th century is characteristic for Sibiu, these churches existing in the great majority of the villages and commercial centers colonized by the German population known generically under the name of Saxons.
The fortified churches are a unique and very interesting phenomenon. They can be found in but a few locations in Europe but in Transylvania there existed more than 300 German fortified churches. Some of them disappeared and others are on the verge of disappearing, but the greater part was proudly preserved even in abandoned and already forgotten villages. Some of them (7 to be more precise) had a better faith and were declared heritage monuments and are now included on the UNESCO list (Biertan, Viscri, Saschiz, Prejmer, Valea Viilor, Calnic and Darjiu).
Their specificity is varied, starting with the actual halidom fortified for defensive purposes, then unfortified churches surrounded by defense walls and towers, and fortress churches with several fortified precincts, rowels and bulwarks.
Some of them included adjacent buildings and had various destinations: depositing spaces under the form of pantries endorsed in walls, fountains, schools, residences of teachers and even mayors. The churches, fortified or not, were surrounded by walls adapted to the relief of the grounds, on which defense towers and bulwarks of various and picturesque types were built.
The greatest density of fortified churches is around Sibiu and in the villages around Medias. Unlike the fortresses in Western Europe, the fortress-churches in South-Eastern Transylvania were not inhabited permanently.
They had sacred functions and that of providing shelter for the population and represented defense facilities in cases of danger