March 18, 2026
The train cancelation yesterday scrambled our plans a bit, so we rented a car in Cluj (1), which gave us flexibility to visit some of the fortified Churches in Transylvania. While not a planned stop, a colorful Orthodox Church with a green-tiled roof beckoned on the roadside at Botorca.
Approached Mediaş, the historic center was obvious from the prominent church steeple. The fortified churches were built by the Saxon Germans, and the architecture reflects this heritage (2). A prosperous town developed around the fortified church at Mediaş, located in a river valley which served as a transport route.
A shopkeep in Mediaş suggested we visit the fortified church at Alma Vil. Just a few miles down a new, but narrow, road (3), the village appeared. The church compound, with multiple towers, was on a small hillock.
Biertan is one of the largest fortified churches, dominating the village of the same name. A sign pointed from there to Copsa Mare, up over the hills in the next valley (4). The church was smaller and less well preserved than the others we saw today.
(1) Planning to drop the car back at Cluj after a day trip in Transylvania, we opted to keep the car for a few days and drive to Moldavia after discovering the trains north from Cluj had substitute bus transportion.
(2) Most of the churches were originally Roman Catholic, changing to Lutheran in 1544, when the Saxons (including the priests) changed their allegiance.
(3) Dodging a bus careening around a corner on the narrow road .
(4) The locations of the churches suggests they were designed to repulse troops moving up river valleys.
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