Ocna Sibiului Fortified Reformed Church

The Reformed (Calvinist) church stands in the centre of the town of Ocna Sibiului and is enclosed by a fortified wall. It was built between 1240 and 1280 in Romanesque style, with Gothic architectural elements added later. Originally a Roman Catholic church, it passed to the Reformed Church in the 16th century, when the Hungarian inhabitants adopted the Reformation. Until 1862 the parish belonged to the Supreme Consistory of the Evangelical Church in Sibiu and, from the 16th century, had two clergymen: a Reformed parish priest and an Evangelical chaplain. Inside are the priest's pew and the pulpit canopy from 1515, the curator's pew from 1767, and frescoes and interior painting, some from the time of construction, including the Crucifixion scene to the left of the pulpit, dated 1522. On the roof is a 16th-century rooster with a crescent, at the south entrance a 13th-century relief, and medieval inscriptions can be seen on the walls of the church and of the enclosure. The church also holds pottery made from the 18th century onwards by the town's Hungarian potters. The church is a listed historic monument, LMI code SB-II-a-A-12493. Restoration and consolidation work has been supported by foundations and organisations from abroad, as the number of parishioners is declining.