Today we are leaving Sibiu and the Golden Tulip (yay) for our drive further into Transylvania to Targu Mures. It’s a little over an hour to our first stop, Biertan, where we will visit another UNESO World Heritage fortified church. Soon after leaving the city we enter farmland filled with fields of corn, hay and flocks of sheep. On a switch back road, we climb higher and higher into hills, finally reaching a little Roma town outside of Biertan where we get a lesson on gypsies, now called Roma. I didn’t realize that the name “gypsies” was a derivative came of “Egypt” - which was thought to the be origins of the gypsies. You learn something new every day. We learned about their history, how they were serfs, tied to the land and not allowed to roam about. There are officially 500,000 Roma in Romania (but unofficial estimates are closer to 1 million). Their houses are all very colorful and packed closely together. We see a few Roma about on the streets, all in different traditional garb. In another Roma settlement, the houses are mostly unfinished red brick, with tradesmen displaying their wares - copper pots, clothing and pottery – all displayed on the side of the road for sale.
A little further on, we pass the home of Hermann Oberth, considered the father of rocket science,as is evidenced by the large rocket memorial in the front yard. More Roma villages, more farmland fields and finally we are in the little town of Biertan for the church. This fortification is far bigger than the Calnic church and totally different in design as well. Built in the late 1400’s, the fortification sits atop a high knoll overlooking the town below. It was allowed to organize as a market, and became the center of the Saxon community at the time. There is a story that there was competition among the villages back then to become the best community, and Biertan raised money through wine production to build the most beautiful and elaborate church. It was so elaborate, it became the seat of the Evangelical Lutheran religion for many years.
Now, true to its roots, there is still a market surrounding the fortification, albeit a tourist market! But all the same….We pass through the market – with Cristina imploring us to not look and to stay with the tour because we’ll have time afterward to shop – climbing up the stairs and steep incline to the entrance of the fortification. It is a truly amazing structure, huge walls protecting the church and majestic clock tower towering above everything. Inside, the hard scrabble courtyard the church obviously is commands the most attention. Ornate gothic window treatments and blockwork design present an imposing facade, and the interior is just as impressive with the largest altar in all of Transylvania and what almost look like flying buttresses for ceiling supports. The door to the vestry, however, holds one of the most amazing things: A lock that comprises of15 different mechanisms to make the door virtually impossible to open. It was used to protect the most valuable items of the church when it was under siege.
Another interesting feature – beyond the huge bacon tower – is the “divorce room.” On the side of the fortress, built into the walls is a little cell made up of 2 rooms where couples who wanted a divorce were locked in for two weeks. They had to share one set of cutlery and one bed in this tiny environ, and at the end of the two weeks had to make their final decision on staying together or not. It is said that only one couple decided to divorce in the over 400 years of use!
The fortress was logically built high up for protection, and now, in more peaceful times, it makes for fantastic long and short views across the village and valleys below. We spend the vast majority of our free time up along the fortress walls, taking picture after picture of the gorgeous ramshackle Romanian cottages below. Climbing down from the fortress (through the covered stairway), we end up walking around town a bit more, taking more pictures of these cool, quaint houses (I have my head filled with ideas for my next pottery house creations).
Back in the market, we peruse the different wares – ending up with some hand made wooden spoons with carved faces, and then a really good honey, nut & chocolate bar. Cristina treats us to a Chimney cake she has purchased to share with us. I’d wanted to buy one since we arrived, but they are huge (about 1 foot tall and 5 inches wide – way too much for just the 2 of us), so this was the perfect solution. It’s so good, and sweet and doughy – and a little taste is just enough to feed our sugar cravings.
Back on the bus, we have lost 2 people (will be the only time we have someone late to the bus the entire trip – which is amazing in an of itself), but they finally appear, and we head off, back down the switchback roads to Sighisoara, the oldest fortress in Europe that is still inhabited.
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