Sebeș Evangelical Church

The Evangelical Church in Sebeș, located in the centre of the municipality of Sebeș, Alba County, is a historical monument of national importance whose architectural evolution spans approximately three centuries (LMI code AB-II-m-A-00355.01). Construction began at the end of the 12th or the beginning of the 13th century with a three-nave Romanesque basilica, built by the Saxon community that had settled in the area. Throughout the 13th to 15th centuries the church underwent successive transformations: the Romanesque apse was replaced with a Gothic one, the choir was rebuilt in the Gothic style and completed around 1382, and the side naves were widened and raised. The choir has Gothic ribbed vaults and sculptures with plant motifs and biblical figures. The most valuable piece inside is the polyptych altar, made from 1518 onwards, about 13 m tall and 6 m wide, considered the largest altar in Transylvania. In the 15th century the church was surrounded by a defensive wall with battlements, turning it into a fortified ensemble. Since the first half of the 16th century the church has served the Evangelical (Lutheran) parish. Did you know that during the First World War the church bells were requisitioned and melted down for munitions, and the present bells were only installed in 1925?