Prejmer Fortified Church: UNESCO peasant fortress

The fortified church in the village of Prejmer (German Tartlau, Hungarian Prázsmár) is the largest and best-preserved peasant fortress in Transylvania. It stands in the middle of the Țara Bârsei plain, some 18 km east of the city of Brașov. Since 1999 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage site «Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania» (inscribed in 1993, extended in 1999).

A Teutonic church that no siege could break

Construction began around 1218 under the Teutonic Knights, whom the Hungarian king had invited to guard the south-eastern frontier of Transylvania. After the Knights were expelled in 1225, the Cistercians carried on the work. This explains the plan, unusual for the region — a Greek cross, with a tower raised over the crossing in 1461. In 1512–1515 the church was widened with side aisles. The church itself was never fortified: it is protected by a ring of walls 12–14 metres high, five towers, an outer wall and a moat.

Prejmer lies on the route from the Buzău Pass, through which Tatars, Ottomans and Wallachian armies repeatedly broke into Transylvania. Between the 13th and the 17th centuries the village was attacked and burnt more than 50 times, yet the fortress was taken only a few times. For sieges, more than 270 cells on four tiers were built into the thickness of the walls: each family had its own room and store, so up to 1,600 people could shelter inside. Today it is the Lutheran (Evangelical) church of the Saxon community.

Why go

Nowhere else is it so clear how the Transylvanian Saxons lived through a siege. You walk through a dark 30-metre entrance passage with a portcullis, climb wooden stairs to the galleries of cells and follow the defensive walkway with its loopholes. The fortress is large, bright and open, and the plain church interior with its Gothic altarpiece contrasts nicely with the stern walls.

What to see

• The ring of walls with cells — four-storey «honeycombs» of living rooms and food stores with wooden stairs and galleries around the whole inner courtyard.
• The defensive walkway — dark, winding corridors along the outer wall with loopholes and machicolations.
• The entrance passage, about 30 metres long, with a portcullis and heavy oak gates.
• The Holy Cross church with its Greek-cross plan, the 1461 tower and a Gothic winged altarpiece showing the Crucifixion.
• Museum rooms in the cells — Saxon village life, folk costume and furniture — and the old school building in the courtyard.

Practical information

The fortress stands in the centre of Prejmer on the main street (Strada Mare). From the city of Brașov it is about 18 km along the DN11 towards Sfântu Gheorghe; local trains and buses run to the village. From Ukraine the nearest route is the Porubne — Siret border crossing, then about 380 km to Brașov via Suceava, Bacău and Onești. Entry is paid. The fortress's official website is being updated and does not currently publish a schedule, so check opening hours and prices before you go by calling the parish. There is a service on Sunday mornings.

The galleries with their steep wooden stairs are not accessible to wheelchair users; the courtyard and the church are. Allow 1–1.5 hours. This is a working church: keep quiet inside and do not disturb services.

Nearby

• Hărman fortified church — another large fortress of Țara Bârsei, about 10 km to the west.
• The historic centre of Brașov with the Council Square.
• The Black Church in Brașov — the largest Gothic church in the region.
• Piatra Mare above Brașov — a popular day hike.
• Râșnov Fortress on the hill above the town of Râșnov.

Official website: cetateaprejmer.ro

Photos: Neighbor's goat, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro, Wikimedia Commons; CEllen, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Superchilum, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.