0339 ROMANIA (Sibiu) - Biertan fortified church - part of Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania (UNESCO WHS)

0339 Biertan Fortified Church

Biertan (Birthälm) was one of the first settlements of the Transylvanian Saxons, and received the right to organize a market, placing it in competition with Mediaş and Moşna; it was also the see of the Saxon Lutheran Church from 1572 to 1867. Built in the center of the town, on a hill (Hill of Berth), in Late Gothic style with Renaissance touches, Biertan fortified church was the last one erected in this style in Transylvania, between 1486 and 1524. It was limited by terrain configuration, the choir, 18m long, vaulted with a network of ribs, being built just after the old building ships were replaced by three ships of equal height.

Above the choir there was a defensive floor, equipped with ramparts and watch road. The piece de resistance is the polyptych altar, the largest in Transylvania, consisting of 28 panels made by a local painter. Enjoys international fame the vestry door, with a very complicated and original system of 19 locks, made by local craftsmen, which was awarded on the 1889 Paris World's Fair. The fortress consists of three enclosures, connected by gate towers. The first one, with six towers, dating from the 14th century, the second, marked by a series of arches reinforcement is the same period as the church and the third, also fortified with two towers, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Biertan fortified church is part of the UNESCO WHS Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania, about which I wrote here.

About the stamp

This time I'll be talking more than usual about the stamp, because Mircea Ostoia, the friend from Focşani who sent me this postcard isn't only a tenacious collector of postcards, but also the author of some very interesting blogs (Postcard Travel Guide and Quality of Romania), on which I warmly recommend you, and even graphic designer. The stamp used for this postcard is one of those worked by him for Romfilatelia. This issuance, entitled International Children's Day, contains a single stamp (with the value of 2.40RON - unusual one), and was issued on June 1, 2012. Run printing was 185,360 copies, but Mircea used a stamp with vignette, which was only one on each minisheet, namely 2,100 copies. Mulţumesc din suflet, Mircea.

Declared as a holiday by many governments after the World Conference on Children’s Protection and Welfare, which took place in August 1925 in Geneva, Children’s Day is celebrated on various days worldwide, but there are also the Universal Children's Day, celebrated on November 20th. In Romania, as in many other countries (like China, SUA, Bulgaria, Germania, Polonia, Albania etc), the International Children’s Day is celebrated on 1st of June, when are organized various events, and children receive gifts and have free entrance to some museums, zoos etc.

References
Birten fortified church - Wikipedia
Biertan / Birthälm - Fortified Churches

Sender: Mircea Ostoia (direct swap)
Sent from Focşani (Vrancea / Romania), on 18.09.2012
Photo: M. Dragomir