Romania has a lot of churches. Some of them can be grouped by architectural style and geographical area and the most commonly used groups are: the fortified churches of Transylvania, the wooden churches of Maramures and the painted monasteries of Budovica.

Fortified Churches of Transylvania

South-eastern Transylvania still has about 150 fortified churches from the 13th to the 16th centuries. These were built for defence against the Cumans and Ottomans. Larger towns were fortified with a defensive wall but in many smaller villages the church was more or less fortified for defensive purposes. Seven of these churches are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

These churches were built mainly by the Transylvanian Saxons, who were brought to Transylvania starting in the 12th century by the Kings of Hungary to strengthen the defense of these lands.

We visited the fortified churches in Calnic and Valea Viilor and happened to drive past the Garbova fort. The belltower was built much later in Garbova and this is actually a fort from the 13th century with a belltower from the 19th century. Typically the churches are not open but have a note on the gate with a phone number. We tried this in Valea Viilor but the number did not answer. A helpful lady from the village promised to get hold of the person with the key but also without success, so we did not see any of these churches from the inside.

After stopping by these three churches we visited the city of Sibiu. Sibiu was also built by the Transylvanian Saxons in the 12th century and was called Hermannstadt in German. The city has a very nice pedestrianised old town with large squares and big churches. Very reminiscent of German towns from the same period.