Agnita Fortified Church

Agnita fortified church stands in the centre of the town of Agnita, on Strada Agnita Nouă, in the Hârtibaciu valley in the east of Sibiu County. It is the Evangelical (Lutheran) church of the former Saxon community, originally a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Agatha, surrounded by the defensive towers of the old fortress. Agnita is first mentioned in 1280. In 1376 King Louis of Anjou granted it the right to hold a yearly fair, and in 1466 King Matthias Corvinus gave it the „jus gladii” and the right to keep half of its fighting men at home in wartime to defend the fortress. The 13th-century Romanesque basilica, built without a tower, was fortified in the 15th century, among other things with a defensive storey above the choir that was demolished in the 19th century. In the 16th century the walls of the aisles were raised and the building became a hall church. The triple ring of walls was pulled down in stages between 1845 and 1870, leaving only the towers. Today visitors can see the Gothic hall church, the western bell tower and four defensive towers named after the guilds that manned them: the gate tower, the tailors' tower, the smiths' tower and the shoemakers' tower. The choir keeps a double-winged altarpiece from 1650 that continues the tradition of pre-Reformation Gothic altarpieces. Besides the church, a museum exhibition inside the towers can be visited; for weekend visits the Sibiu County Tourism Association asks visitors to announce themselves at least two days in advance. The fortified Evangelical church ensemble is a category A historic monument, LMI code SB-II-a-A-12196, comprising the church (SB-II-m-A-12196.01) and the four towers (SB-II-m-A-12196.02-05). The church belongs to the Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession in Romania, and the Stiftung Kirchenburgen foundation lists it among the fortified churches of Transylvania.