Valea Viilor Fortified Church

The fortified Lutheran church stands in the centre of Valea Viilor (German: Wurmloch), Valea Viilor commune, at number 341, south-west of Mediaș. The village lies in a wine-growing area, is first documented in 1263 as „posessio Barwmlak” and was a Transylvanian Saxon community. An earlier Gothic church, mentioned in 1414, stood here from the 14th century, but nothing of it can be identified today. The present hall church was built in the 15th century, originally as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Peter, and took its current form around 1500, during the fortification phase. The chancel was rebuilt as a tower with three brick defence levels and walls 1.5 metres thick, topped by a timber-framed battlement walk, and a defence level was added above the nave. Around 1520 the west entrance beneath the bell tower was walled up and the north and south entrances were given defensive grilles. The church was damaged by the earthquake of 1738 and repaired by 1742; restoration work followed in 1969-1970, 1987 and 1996-1997. The oval enclosure, with walls 6-7 metres high, loopholes and machicolations, is entered through a vaulted passage on the west side that could be closed with a portcullis. Inside the church are a net-ribbed vault, a tabernacle of 1504 on the north side of the chancel, a pew of 1528 from the transition between Gothic and Renaissance and the altar of 1779, with paintings by Stephan Folberth of Sighișoara. The fortified church ensemble is a listed historic monument, LMI code SB-II-a-A-12582 (church SB-II-m-A-12582.01, fortified enclosure with three towers, gate tower and annexes SB-II-m-A-12582.02). The village of Valea Viilor is component 596bis-007 of the UNESCO World Heritage site „Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania”. The Fortified Churches Foundation (Stiftung Kirchenburgen) lists the Evangelical District Consistory in Mediaș as the contact for visits.