Copșa Mare Fortified Church

Copșa Mare Fortified Church stands on a slope on the east side of Copșa Mare village, Biertan commune, in a side valley south of the Târnava Mare, about 15 kilometres east of Mediaș. The church's outline follows the terrain, and inside the choir sits higher than the nave and is reached by a few steps. The village was probably founded in the second half of the 13th century and is first recorded at the end of that century. From the early 14th century the settlers built an early Gothic stone basilica with a tower here. Around 1510, when the church was fortified, the old choir was demolished and replaced by a tall choir with a polygonal end, strengthened with a stone defensive storey so that the church could be defended against the hillside, and the tower received a wooden defensive storey. On the north side of the choir is the two-storey sacristy, dated 1519, with a chapel on its upper floor. The fortified enclosure dates from around 1519; of its towers, the north-eastern one survives. The nave was remodelled in baroque style in 1795-1797. Inside are the star vault and Gothic tracery windows of the choir, the Renaissance portal of the sacristy, a neoclassical altar of 1854 with six Corinthian columns, a baroque pulpit canopy and font, and an organ built in 1800 by Samuel Maetz of Biertan. The original Gothic altarpiece with wooden statues was taken to Sibiu in 1975, restored, and is displayed in the sacristy of the Lutheran parish church in Sibiu. The complex is a listed historic monument (LMI code SB-II-a-A-12364: church SB-II-m-A-12364.01, enclosure SB-II-m-A-12364.02). The church has no fixed opening hours; visits are arranged in advance with the caretaker.