When asked to give examples of villages with fortified churches, people around the world usually mention Mont Saint Michel in France. But not the Romanians. They always give different answers such as “Biertan”, “Prejmer”, “Valea Viilor” and so on. These are just few of the many possible answers they can give.

Do they disagree on names? No, it is not that. It’s just that every other village in Transylvania has a fortified church.

But why? Simple! They were built to fight off the Turks and Tatars who, during the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and the 18th centuries exercised year after year their favorite sport of invading their neighbors to robb, burn and destroy.

While in Moldova, Wallachia and Oltenia huge armies came yearly to obliterate almost everything, Transylvania was lucky enough to be insulated inside the Carpathian Mountains and behind deep and thick forests. Huge armies had difficulties to pass the mountains every year, but small, more mobile units did. “Robb as much as you can and go back as fast as you can” seemed to be their motto, because Saxons living in Transylvania discovered that they can face them inside fortified churches.

These were been build one after another, some replacing older Roman or Romanian structures. Always in the same way. The church on a hilltop, easy to be defended, beside it the school and the village hall, and the Dance Square, a plaza bordered by houses of richer folks.

When bigger armies crossed into Transylvania these fortified churches were usually burned down to ashes, like the one in Avrig, but not all of them. Numbers of fortified churches made it until nowadays.

Seven of the best preserved are now World Heritage sites and they remind people visiting them that not always Romania was a peaceful place, not always we took the peace of today as granted.

List of villages with fortified churches listed as World Heritage sites

Biertan, Sibiu County
Calnic, Alba County
Darjiu, Harghita County
Prejmer, Brasov County
Saschiz, Mures County
Valea Viilor, Sibiu County
Viscri, Brasov County

Other world heritage sites in Romania