Hungary: Biertan

Guten Tag!

On Friday Jimmy and I left Malancrav about mid-morning. We stopped at the orchard and purchased some apple juice and then headed toward the town of Biertan where we understood there was a church worthy of seeing. In my opinion, all of the Saxon fortified churches are worthy of being visited. I hope one day to be able to visit them all.

Biertan is a town, albeit a small one, with a few shops, a few restaurants, an inn or two. It felt like a booming metropolis after Malancrav, and that's not necessarily a good thing. The church there sits atop a hill and is truly a little fortress in and of itself. The road to Biertan dips down off the main road that runs between Sighisoara and Medias, and about 8 km of the main highway you can see the fortress nestled amidst some trees at the top of a hill. The view was quite striking. Unfortunately the angle of the sun was such that it was not possible to get a good shot from the car window.

After parking the car you must enter through an arched tunnel and climb a giant staircase to reach the church citadel. But before you climb any stairs, one must wait on Jimmy to have a smoke. Here he is now.

Jimmy Having a Smoke in Biertan

Ticket Office Inside Gate Tower

Stairwell to Hilltop Citadel

When you reach the top of the stairs you come out into the daylight atop a grassy hill with a huge tower immediately before you. We understood from reading the tourist brochure that this was the marriage tower, and that couples who were fighting were locked up in it, with only one bed, one plate, one fork, one cup, one chair, and were forced to either get along or split up for good. Now it is used to store carved gravestones. Here is the marriage tower.

Gravestone at Biertan

Tower in the Outside Walls of Biertan Evangelical Church

Looking Up at Church from Fortified Wall

Wooden Stairs of Lookout Tower in Biertan Fortifications

The tower above is a lookout tower inside the keep. These next pictures depict outlying towers in the wall fortifications. They are lower down the hill from the church and the lookout tower.

Tower in Outlying Wall Fortifications

Another View of the Wall Tower

Here are pictures of towers on the back side of the church itself.

Tower in Church Walls

Side Doors of Biertan Church

Date Inscription over Church Doors

Like many of these churches, Biertan has a clock tower.

Biertan Clock Tower

Another View of the Clock Tower

Painted Detail on Outside Church Wall

Church Entrance

Carved Wooden Choir Seats

Carved Top Portion of Choir Seats

This picture of the altarpiece is terrible, but it gives you some idea how impressive this piece is. They would not let you take pictures in any of the churches we were in except this one, although they do have many areas roped off. It was dark inside, and from a distance, behind a rope, I was trying to zoom in, and I'm afraid the combination of zoom and darkness didn't do this subject any justice.

Painted Arches in Biertan Church Ceiling

Hinge on Sacristy Door in Biertan Church

Some of the pews along the walls in the nave of the church were carved with the symbols of the guilds who installed them, and many of the symbols are Masonic. Here are some photographs of carvings that depict the tools of the trade.

Pew Carving in Biertan Church

Carvings of Tools

Here is a shot of the ceiling in the back of the church.

Ceiling Detail from Back of Church

Door Leading Outside

Jimmy by Biertan Walls

Walls to Biertan Fortress

Rooftops over the Wall at the Biertan Fortress

After leaving the church and buying some postcards at the gift shop, we stopped in at the Medieval Restaurant, immediately at the bottom of the church, for lunch.

They had lamb kebabs, chicken kebabs, beef kebabs, so I assumed the "mixed kebabs" would be a mixture of these items. Nope, here is the mixed kebab with chicken, hot dogs, and ham chunks. :)