In the 12th and 13th centuries, simultaneous with the advancement of the Kingdom of Hungary's border to the east and south-eastern Transylvania, until its stabilization along the Carpathians, Hungarian kings encouraged Germans and Székelys to colonize the areas newly conquered, in essence for economic and military reasons. The German colonists were named Transylvanian Saxons, despite the fact that most of them came from the western Holy Roman Empire.
The political, economic and social influence exercised by them in the last eight centuries in Transylvania was a major and
beneficial one. Unfortunately after the WWII, but especially after the
fall of communism in Eastern Europe, many members of this community
emigrated to Germany.
Being situated in a region constantly under the threat of the invasions (mainly of the Ottomans and Tatars),
they built fortifications of different sizes. The most important towns
were fully fortified, and the smaller communities created fortifications
centered on the church, where they added defensive towers and
storehouses to keep their most valuable goods and to help them withstand
long sieges. In almost all cases, the church is situated in an easily defendable position, generally on a hilltop. At its peak, were about 300 such fortified churches, but
now are left around 150, most of them well preserved.
Seven of them (6
in Saxons villages and one in a Székelys village) were included in the
UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, under the name Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania (those with link are presented in the blog):
• Biertan fortified church ( Sibiu)
• Câlnic Citadel (Alba)
• Dârjiu fortified church (Harghita)
• Prejmer fortified church (Braşov)
• Saschiz fortified church and peasant citadel (Mureş)
• Valea Viilor fortified church (Sibiu)
• Viscri fortified church (Braşov)
References
Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania - Wikipedia
Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania - UNESCO official website
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