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8/14/2019 Saxon Village Romania

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Fortified Evangelic Church Viscri

The Site of the Settlement

The Period of Edification, Church Patron and General Presentation

The Documentary Attestation of the Settlement

The village of Viscri is part of the commune of Buneti and is 13 km north-north-west to thetown of Rupea and 7 km from the village of Dacia. Viscri is not situated on a nationalcauseway or any asphalted route. It is hidden among the hills to the west of Rupea.

The ecclesiastic church of Viscri was built around the end of the 15th century. The churchwas transformed in the 15th and 17th century. The church patron was Saint Andrew. Theevangelic church, in the middle of the sacral church, replaces the old edifice in Roman stylewith a Gothic style one. The church keeps a chapiter with ogees, today placed in the altar,the only one of this type known in Transylvania. It has a double precinct, the inner belt of thewall being provisioned with a covered corridor and reinforced by four towers (15th and 17thcenturies), the fifth one guarding the gate.The church is the most majestic Medieval fortress church among the approximately 180 thatexist in nowadays Transylvania. Viscri is the only Transylvanian Saxon fortress in Romaniathat was comprised in an illustrated album of Europe in 1935, achieved by Martin Hrlimann,Europa. The EminescuTrustFoundation, sponsored among others by Prince Charles of

Great Britain, has begun renovating the old houses in the village.What amazes upon first sight, is the massive features of this fortress. The little church thatinitially gave the name of the settlement, Alba Ecclesia (in German Weisskirch) is encircledby towers, imposing bastions and incredibly solid walls that dominate the surroundings of thevillage. Otherwise, the church introduces nowadays the tourist in the popular art specific tothe Transylvanian Saxon houses.The particularities of the monument have preoccupied many researchers and its enigmascould not be deciphered until the diggings between 1970 and 1971, carried out by thearchaeologist Mariana Dumitrache. The outcome is presented in an ample studyArchaeological and Architectural Research in the Area of Rupea (Viscri -Deutchweisskirch).

At the bottom of the hill of the fortress, the village of Viscri stretches along the main lanewhich is about 1.3 km long and a few perpendicular lanes to the north. Four of the streetsbelonged to the Transylvanian Saxons, one to the Romanians and another one to theGypsies.The style of the Transylvanian Saxon houses is preserved for centuries. The isolatedposition and the poverty of the inhabitants have saved the rustic architecture which remainedunaltered. These are houses with imposing facades, flanked by gates that hide thehousehold from the indiscrete looks of the passers by.


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Although the colonization of the Transylvanian Saxons took place in the 12th century, thefirst documentary attestation lasts since around 1400. The hideaway position of thesettlement also explains its rather late appearance in the documents. In 1500, Viscri ismentioned among the free communes of the See of Rupea, comprising 51 households, threeshepherds, a teacher and two poor men. Here, similarly to other communes, the age of thechurch confirms the fact that the German colonists'settlement happened around the end ofthe 12th century when the western part of what was to become the See of Rupea wascolonized as well.The preponderance of the Transylvanian Saxons continued between the two world wars. In

1930, Viscri had 787 inhabitants among which 562 were Transylvanian Saxons (over 70%).The Second World War, the deportation to the Soviet Union and the emigration to Germanywould halve the number of the Transylvanian Saxons until the end of the communist period.After 1990, they would migrate massively, being replaced mainly by the Gypsies. Today, inViscri, there are only 34 Transylvanian Saxons left next to 150 Romanians and 275 gypsies.

The main lane of the settlement goes up south-west, similarly to the two side lanes that leadnorth-west. At the end of the western part there is the fortified church of Viscri, proposed forbeing listed as a UNESCO historical monument that needs restoration.

The evangelic church of Viscri, although small, is imposing through the gigantism of its wallsboth those of the sanctuary and those of the first precinct. They are made of stone in a poorregion, of considerable pieces of limestone and basalt erected at high levels, so that thewestern tower and the spurs on the southern and northern part of the nave could also beerected.The church consists of a single nave, with a flat ceiling and it was edified on the ruins of aRomanic building. The Romanic apse was replaced with a trapezoidal choir; the tower hadreceived the function of donjonin the meantime.The flat ceiling was substituted with an arched one, the choir also being given a fortified

floor. The Gothic nervure vault has overburdened the lateral walls of the nave and wasreplaced with an encased ceiling.In 1743, the fortified floor of the choir was demolished too, its roof being lowered directly onthe walls. From the initial chapel, only a niche in the southern wall of the choir was kept. Thepaintings degraded in time and were eventually covered.The western tower or the Clock Tower, dating back to 1494, has 6 floors and thick wallswithin which circulation is carried out on narrow obscure stairs. It was overerected andfortified in several stages.

The Site of the Fortified Church

The Evangelic Church.The Nave. The Choir. The Apse. The Gothic Vault. TheWindows. The Encased Ceiling.


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On the inside, in the nave, the furniture is remarkable. It is decorated with motifs inspiredfrom the Transylvanian Saxon popular art. The interior of the church recalls the atmosphereof a Transylvanian Saxon house, rich in folklore art: the encased ceiling matches the aisles.Also it is made of wood and has banisters painted in a nave manner but also old pews withrural paintings dating back to 1694, 1717 and 1783.In the choir, behind the altar, one can still se the remains of a Romanic column that used tobelong to a primitive church. The triumphal arch is also a relic of the same construction.

The first church built in Viscri dates back to the period when the area was occupied byTransylvanian Saxon colonizers. The plan of the church was simple, with a single nave anda semi-circular Romanic style apse on the eastern side. This church was destroyed by theTatar invasion between 1241 and 1242, being afterwards (1498) replaced with anotheredifice that is still preserved today. Various objects and coins from 1100-1120, discovered inthe cemetery and the thorough study of the walls led to the conclusion that these used to bepopulated by Szeklars, defenders of the south-eastern border of the Hungarian Kingdom.The Szeklars built on the place of the current evangelic church a small one-room churchwithout a tower. This was built of white-green limestone, had a rectangular form and a semi-circular apse to the east and the only adornments were the prismatic cubic stones thatformed the corners of the room and the beginning of the apse, a semi-circular apse of thesouthern entrance. The room had a flat ceiling, the apse a semi-calotte (the length of thechapel was 13.5m, of the room 9.80m, the width of the room was 7.8m to the west and 8mto the east).In conformity to the stones found in the graves inside and outside the chapel, coins andtemple earrings from the 12th century, it dates back between 1100 and 1120 and it belongedto a group of Szeklars that guarded at this point the border of the feudal Hungarian stateprevious to the coming of the German colonizers.At the middle of the 12th century, the King of Hungary brings in the region Germancolonizers, the future Transylvanian Saxons and moves the Szeklars towards the easternCarpathians in order to protect that border. Around 1185, the German colonizers in theregion of Flanders were given a church and they adapted it to their needs without altering it.

In 1225 a western gallery was built on the inside and it was supported by three circularcolumns with cubic Romanic chapiters of two dimensions and specific decorations. Two ofthem, smaller, were actually placed in the choir and the large one was transformed into abaptistery. Today, they are the only chapiters of this kind that were preserved inTransylvania.The existence of the deserted chapel had exempted the colonizers from the effort oferecting a Romanic basilica with three naves as many were built in most of theTransylvanian Saxon settlements in Transylvania during the 13th century.

The Church. A Brief History. Important events in the lifeof the church.


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The adaptation of the chapel was accomplished in several stages, according to the socialevolution of the colonizers and the respective historical conditions. The inhabited tower, built4 meters to the west of the chapel, reminds one of the donjons of the noblemen of Calnicand Grbova similarly to the oval shape of the precinct that was built around the fortress andthat comprised the cemetery and the chapel as well. The first floor had no openings, thegate had an arched vault on the axis east-west. The second floor had ramparts that were1.6m high and were meant for the archers.In the 14th century the eastern part of the Romanic style Szeklar church was transformed:the apses were demolished and a trapezoidal well-reinforced choir was edified. It had asemi-round closing and was leaned on seven spurs. On the northern part of the church halla sacristy was built. The choir got an ogival arch and a semicircular window that werediscovered in 1970 and 1971, during archaeological research.The third period of construction, situated in the first half of the 16th century, coincides withthe fortification of the church. Through the lengthening of the lateral walls of the chapel theone-room chapel was linked to the donjon. An entrance was created on the first floor of theeastern side. It consisted in a broken arch and a stone frame.During the first quarter of the 14th century, the church was fortified and the hall wasprolonged to the west and joined through construction with the massive western tower. Thewalls of the choir were erected polygonally and the new spurs were built. They bear thearchways on which the defense floor that sticks out was edified. Above the choir a rattanceiling was built in. The defense corridor from above the choir was demolished and thepurlin ridge was placed above the defense floor. The windows were partially increased orbuilt and replaced with others that had a round arch.

On the occasion of these restorations, an inscription was made on the triumphal arch,indicating 1743. Large pieces of frescoes were discovered but the painting was partlydestroyed when the choir was built. Pews that have phyto-morphic Renaissance and Gothicpaintings dated 1694 and they were placed along the western wall. The wooden pews withpainted banisters date back to 1717 and the pews on the southern part are from 1783. Thispainted rustic furniture provides a distinct note to the interior also having ethnographic value.

Today, the interior of the church recalls the atmosphere of a rustic Transylvanian Saxonhouse rich in folklore art: the encased matches the aisles, also made of wood with banisterspainted in a nave style with old pews that had rustic paintings. The Baroque wooden pulpitdates back to 1791. The Classical altar from the 19th century is the work of the painter J.Pankratz from Rupea and the organ functions since 1817 and it was built and placed abovethe altar by Johann Thois from Rnov. However, the baptistery remains the main point ofattraction. It was made of the Romanic chapiter that was placed on a column section whichwas preserved since the small chapel Alba Ecclesia.


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The Interior of the Church. The AltarIt is Classical or rather Neo-Classical and dates back to the 19th century. The artist thatconceived it is J. Pankratz from Rupea. It has in the center of the painting a ChildrenBlessing. The upper part of the chapiter is shaped as a counting frame provisioned withfour circle segments on each side. This chapiter is part of the chapiters that have moldingsand it is the only one known in Transylvania so far. Based on it, the church of Viscri must bedated back to the first half of the 13th century.The PulpitIt was built in Baroque style and dates since 1791.The PewsThey are in rustic style or in a Transylvanian rural one and they date back to the 17th19thcentury.The OrganIn 1723, a new organ was built for 145 florins. It still functions since 1817 when a new organendowed with a clavier and 8 registers was built and fixed by Johann Thois from Rnovabove the altar for the sum of 3,500 florins.The BaptisteryOne of the most valuable pieces in the interior of the Viscri church, it was made of theRomanic chapiter that was placed on a column section which was preserved since the smallchapel Alba Ecclesia.The ChaliceIt is in Gothic style, part of the group with the pearled basket made in silver around 1500. Ithas a high, smooth, slightly convex sole and the pyramidal stem has six flat faces, withedges that blossom towards the basis and that end in six lobes marked by a gallery withhemstitched winding stems.The BellsIn 1967 in the bell tower there were suspended: a large undated bell, a middle one that borethe Latin inscription Magister Johes von Schespurg 1748, a small oneundated,decorated with four medallions that represented: a Lion, a Sta, Death and a suckling deerkid, and also a tiny undated glass bell that belonged to the clockmaker.The ChurchTower

The defense tower was built of grey basalt and was placed in the western part of the church.It may have been achieved in the 13th century. It is 8.8 x 8.3 meters and the wall is 2.3meter thick.The tower, destined for a family of noblemen has a foundation situated precisely above anancient tomb, previous to the arrival of the Transylvanian Saxons. The first floor is endowedwith a straight cylindrical vault covered with limestone rattan. It has no exterior entrance, theonly way inside being through the upper floor on a mobile ladder.


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The second floor is also arched and has in the eastern wall an entrance built with a roundarchway.The third and the fourth floors have bridging, ceilings with beams and high firing holesappropriate for the archers. The latter are provided with corresponding niches where onecan stand.In the thick walls there were niches for the guards and they have firing windows meant forcross-bows. The connection between the floors is made through a corridor that resultedfrom playing with the thickness of the walls. In the 14th century, this dominating tower wasundertaken by the Transylvanian Saxon community and was included, two centuries later, inthe ensemble of the church. At the beginning of the 16th century the tower was associated adonjon that was then built. It also got a fifth floor and the bell-tower with slender thin wallsand large resonance openings.Above there was a sixth floor with small built in loopholes, with a pyramidal shaped roof. In1911, there was a horologe in the bell-tower.

Just as well built and preserved as the church is the wall of the first precinct. It occupies arather narrow surface that is, however, remarkably defended. It has four towers, of whichone is placed precisely above the entrance and two close bastions. Some of them still bearinscriptions which indicate the date of their repair works in the first half of the 17th century.The particularity of this precinct consists in the fact that along it, and in connection with eachtower, but still ensuring a free passage to the church for those in the tower, there is acovered path that could be taken without risks in case of a fight.Modest in dimension and very well built, the wall of the first precinct of the Rustic Fortress,endowed with four towers and two bastions was kept intact. The inscriptions are still visibleand they mention renowned works achieved during the 17th century and also the name ofthe architect, Hartmann, followed by the saying "In pace de bello et in bello de pacecogitatis".The northern wall of the nave has no opening and hence is more imposing. The secondprecinct, behind which the terrain was steep, is much less significant. The fortress wasenhanced and reinforced, fortified at the beginning of the 16th century when a defensive

bastion was also added to the eastern side.The main entrance in the fortress was on the northern side, probably flanked by a towerbecause the GateTower was built only in 1650 on the foundation of an older one.Nowadays, the GateTower, with access under a semi-cylindrical vault, represents the mainentrance in the fortress church of Viscri, also sheltering the bells. It is protected to the westby a daunting bastion that is combined with a tower endowed with a defense corridor. A solidwall defends the south-eastern part to the WesternTower.This tower of observation has four floors and a defense or watch corridor and was erectedbetween 1648 and 1649 by the architects David ZakoandStephan Schullerus. Still from the17th century is the NorthernTower that has three floors.

The Fortification of the Church. The Precinct. The Towers. The Guard Sentry.


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The oval wall on this side was replaced with upright walls 5-7 meter high and provided withan inner guard sentry. The latter was substituted with a provision room in the 17th century. Inthe same century, the second precinct wall was built, modest as dimension and only partlypreserved.

The Church andthe Rustic Fortress were built in stone mixed with partly plastered brick,wood and shingles. This stratification in white, brown and red of the edifice of Viscri isparticularly picturesque. Moreover, the spurs of the church, with lateral entrances to thenave, as well as the narrow space between the church and the perimetral constructiondistinguish the ensemble through an individual charm of medieval atmosphere and rusticity.The Fortification of the ChurchA Brief History. Important events in the life of the church.In the 13th century a chapel and an inhabited tower were built. Similarly to the fortresses ofthe greavi in Sebes they were surrounded by a precinct belt or an oval precinct. Thisprecinct was conserved in the southern, eastern and north-eastern part. The wall was builtin river stone and cairn. At the beginning of the 14th century, the precinct wall was mostlyrebuilt and endowed with firing and tar holes. It had in the lower part a covered woodendefense corridor. Some of the firing holes were formed of frameworks;frames of oak with aretractable latch. A thee-floor bastion was raised to the east. It was placed to face the outerwall. In the southern part of the choir there is the GateTowerwith three floors above thegate entrance. The upper one had a wooden defense corridor. The southern bastion, joinedwith a tower had a defense corridor that stuck out and a four-versant roof. There are firingholes at the upper floor.The western tower with four floors and having a square plan, the defense corridor, the purlinramparts and a pyramidal roofwere builtbetween 1648 and 1649.The bell support was on the fourth floor.In the 18th century, the fortified church of Viscri received a second wall belt endowed withtowers. In 1743, the defense corridor of the inner wall was demolished and replaced with acovered corridor meant for cereals. In the 19th century, the defense corridor of the easternbastion was demolished. Under it, between the two spaces, school rooms were built.Between 1970 and 1971 the fortified church of Viscri was restored. The eastern bastion got

a new defense corridor.The contrast between the small church and the defense system of the fortress is impressive.

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