Biertan Fortified Church

Biertan Fortified Church stands on the hill in the centre of Biertan, the seat of Biertan commune, in the north of Sibiu County, in the Târnava Mare area between Mediaș and Sighișoara. From the main square, visitors climb a covered wooden staircase about 100 metres long, dating from 1795. The church is surrounded by three rings of walls with defence towers, bastions and two zwingers, one of the largest church fortresses in Transylvania. Biertan is first recorded in 1283, and the church is mentioned in 1402, when Pope Boniface IX granted it an indulgence. The present late Gothic hall church was built between about 1490 and 1516, and an inscription on the triumphal arch bears the year 1522. The fortress appears in a 1486 charter of King Matthias Corvinus. From 1572 to 1867 Biertan was the seat of the Lutheran bishops of the Transylvanian Saxons. The most extensive restoration of the complex was led by the architect Hermann Fabini between 1980 and 1991. Inside are the polyptych altarpiece with 28 painted panels, made between 1483 and 1513, the stone pulpit carved in 1523 by Master Ulrich of Brașov, the limewood choir stalls made by Johannes Reichmut between 1514 and 1523, and the 1515 sacristy door, with inlay work and a lock that bolts the door at several points at once, which was shown at an exhibition in Paris. The present organ, built in 1869 by Carl Hesse of Vienna, has 1,290 pipes. Within the walls are the Catholic Tower with its chapel, the burial tower which since 1913 has held the graves of the church's prelates, and the bastion that, according to local tradition, served as a "prison" for married couples who wanted to divorce. The complex is a listed historic monument (LMI code SB-II-a-A-12328), and Biertan village is listed separately as a rural site (SB-II-s-A-12327). The fortified church was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993, and in 1999 the site was extended as "Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania". The complex is open to visitors and is presented on the official tourism website of Sibiu County.