Bazna Fortified Church

The fortified church stands in the centre of the village of Bazna (German: Baaßen), seat of Bazna commune, north-west of Mediaș, at Strada Aurel Vlaicu 2. The village is first documented in 1270, and from 1359 it belonged to the Mediaș Seat as a free village. Bazna is also known for its natural gas and mineral springs, on which its spa resort developed. Details of the west portal and the chancel point to an earlier Romanesque church. The present hall church with a rectangular chancel is dated between the late 14th and the early 16th century; a bell inscribed „O REX GLORIAE VENI” in Gothic capitals suggests the second half of the 14th century. The chancel was fortified with three defence levels and a timber-framed battlement walk, removed in 1880 when the roof was set directly on the chancel walls. The roughly circular enclosure originally had three towers; in 1873 the wall was lowered from about 7-8 metres to 2-3 metres, and a second curtain wall was built in 1911. The gate tower, which is also the bell tower, holds three bells from the 14th-15th centuries. The chancel contains a tabernacle of 1504 showing the Man of Sorrows and choir stalls dated 1503. The baroque altar dates from the late 18th century, the organ was completed by Johannes Hahn in 1757, and the pulpit was made in 1781 by Georgius Schuller and painted by Stephan Valepagi. On the west facade the painted, probably Romanesque, portal has been uncovered. The fortified church ensemble is a listed historic monument, LMI code SB-II-a-A-12324 (church SB-II-m-A-12324.01, fortified enclosure with tower, bastion and gate tower SB-II-m-A-12324.02). The Fortified Churches Foundation lists the Evangelical District Consistory in Mediaș as the contact for visits.