There are many legends trying to explain the name of this settlement.
One is saying that the name comes from the burgh of “Alozna” on the Lower Rhine, the birthplace of the colonists who settled in these lands. Other sources state that it might have been given by its founder, Alzo.
Nevertheless, most legends say that the settlement was built in the 13th century by a group of 10 colonists. Once they got here, they tried to come up with a name for their village. And because they could not reach an agreement, it was finally called “Allezehn”, meaning “All ten”.
As customary to the newcomers to these lands, next to their houses on a small hill they also built a Romanesque basilica. In 1493 the Turks destroyed it almost entirely. The threat of new invasions made the colonists rebuild the church and turn it into a hall church with fortifications.
The new fortress was equipped with a double precinct, rectangular bastions and high defence towers. Under the guard route surrounding the fortress, on the inside, they built the pantries to keep the cereals.
The church interior houses some very valuable items: the 1404 font, a bell mounted in the church tower before the Lutheran Reform or the 1780 organ.
Alţâna, Saxon Seat
In certain periods of the Middle Ages, Alţâna used to be one of the Saxon Seats. In the territory called Fundus Regius, Alţâna was a free community. The fact that it was a part of the Nocrich Seat is proven by the participation in 1349 of the Graf Syffridus of Alzen to the Assembly of the Seven Seats from the Province of Sibiu. The powerful, vainglorious grafs from Alţâna wanted to move the Nocrich Seat to Alţâna, their fiefdom. This explains why the documents of those days place this Seat sometimes at Nocrich and sometimes at Alţâna. A 1361 document already speaks of the Alţâna Seat and then another one, from 1374, writes that the Seat was at Nocrich and the grafs from Alţâna strived to get the position of royal judge for this Seat and to make Alţâna the centre of this administrative district. If it had such a title, a settlement could benefit from certain exemptions from taxes and other obligations and thus acquire more money (used to erect impressive places of worship, for instance).
http://www.sibiu-turism.ro/

The fortified church from Alţâna

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From the first basilica built in the 13th century the western portal is preserved – a most valuable testimony of the Romanesque architectural sculpture in Transylvania – as well as the pillars and arcades that once used to separate the central nave and the aisles. Looking carefully above the western portal, one may observe an immured sculpture representing two figures. Some argue that it is a depiction of the Baptism of Jesus, while others say it represents Adam and Eve. The observer is thus invited to solve this mystery by himself.
Around the year 1500 the bell tower was heightened and provided with a wooden battlement walk on consoles and the church’s side aisles were demolished. The two defence walls of the assembly, which were built during the 15th century, are connected by the gate tower and still exhibit remains of the former battlement walk and embrasures, vestiges of a rough past.
Place and surroundings
Amidst the picturesque valley of Hârtibaciu river lays the village of Hosman. The fortified church in the center of the settlement is one of the most photographed sunjects in Transylvania. In clear weather the church has as background the spectacular view of the often snow-caped mountains Făgăraşi, which formed once the boundary of the Austrian and respectively Hungarian sphere of influence. As part of the southern Carpathian, the mountains reach heights over 2.500m.
Today Hosman is one of the starting points of the Brukenthal cultural trails, by which one can explore the surroundings in trips up to nine days. On site the Association “Hosman Durabil” (Sustainable Hosman) supports the development of the settlement. Focus of work is the preservation of the cultural and built heritage and improvement of the living conditions. As part of their work, the old mill was refurbished to host cultural events. Here one can take a guided tour and buy bread, which is backed following traditional recipes and methods.
The European Youth Meeting Center Fortified Church in Hosman (CEPIT Hosman) organizes interethnic and ecumenical youth events and it is committed to the preservation of the medieval assembly of the fortified church.
Activities
The fortified church of Hosman underwent a thorough renovation in the end of the 90’s. Since then about 20 years have passed and the important maintenance and care of the building went through different phases.
In the beginning of the 2000’s family Cotaru (Hosman Durabil) took great care of the fortification. They not only made sure it was accessible but also actively repaired things when necessary, for example they restored the tower clock.
As of 2010 different measures were taken by the Association “Jugendburg Holzmengen”, the District Consistory of Sibiu and other initiatives. The Association “Jugendburg Holzmengen” has been caring for the parish house for many years.
https://kirchenburgen.org/

Hosman Fortified Church

Alma Săsească is a settlement dating from 1289. In 1502 on the hill near Alma Săsească a gothic church with a fortified outskirt was built. You can still see the original wall-paintings and the signs of the 1718 renovation.
The XIXth century brings many changes to the church, this is the time when the baroque ceiling, altar, ambo and font are added. According to the inscription on the great bell it was made in the XVth century. The pipe-organ was made in 1791.
The church is strengthened by lacing-bars and it's surrounded by a blindage inside of which 4 towers, looking at the four cardinal points, are raising. The eastern is the entrance-gate, inside western tower, until 1914, a water reservoir had been the water-supply of the fortification. The walls have crack-shots that were also used spilling tar on the enemy. In the 1966 restoration, the church regained its original shape.
https://www.welcometoromania.eu/

Alma Vii Evangelical fortified church

The point of maximum attraction is the fortress city Agnita peasant fortified church housed therein. Confirm the existence of royal privileges Agnita city in 1466, it was probably built with the church - the Gothic hall, built on the foundations of a Roman basilica, without the tower of the thirteenth century, fortified in the first quarter of the XVI century. In a document preserved in the church until 1948, it was shown that of 1409 as the current building.
The fortress consists of a triple-chamber, was built in several stages, as was later changed at different intervals. The four defense towers built of river rock and quarry belonged interior curtains. In the center of the northern side of the tower carpenters, with an entrance arch provided with hers, looking over the gate. In the east tower rises in the southeast tower blacksmith tailors and shoemakers in the southwest tower. Among the latter there are old wooden shed.
Towers owe their names to the fact that their defense was the duty of care and the various guilds, which kept their bacon in their tower and hanging from wooden beams of the platforms. Towers with five tiers are all provided with small buttresses, passable only for firearms, being vaulted niches with arches covered stone slabs placed vertically stacked or marginal.
Curtin included inside an oval courtyard with a diameter of 55-65 m - if we take the inner corners of the towers as reference points - the second defense wall connecting the outer corners of the towers. Between these two curtains are "Zwinger's" yard animals housed there in case of danger, and the third Curtin, irregular polygonal shape, included a moat, the outer defense wall was protected by the brook and wetlands near . In 1845, the third was demolished Curtin, in 1867 the stores were demolished chambers surrounding the inner chamber, so that in 1870 the last vestiges of fall and curtains triple cord, leaving the towers completely isolated from material obtained by demolishing the building new school.
The core of the city it was a Gothic hall church. Her choir elongated, closed on three sides east and central nave with semicircular arches radial bearing, once decorated with terracotta fins arranged stellate shaped, painted red, as proven by the traces on the southwest corner. Above the small arches in the northern cross of collateral amounted to a stand, while collateral south central nave reaches a height, covered with cross vaults, arches separate dublou broken arch.
On the northern side were originally preserved by square pillars, but adosându them the columns supporting the vault of the central nave. Romanesque arches, these pillars to open between north collateral, have been raised and closed in spring broke, keep a cornice placed below the point before the birth of a Roman arch, thus representing a trace of the Romanesque basilica. Western side as Portals portal located on the same axle, the narrow entrance of the priest in the southern wall of the choir, and all windows are finished in the spring broke, their profiles with a rustic character and cumbersome. The proportions are not too happy church resolved that implementation can be attributed to local craftsmen and some not qualified in any of the major urban sites. Only the south wall of the tabernacle of the present forms of late Gothic choir, more graceful, revealing a definite Oriental influence in the design details.
A bell tower 44 meters high, with six storeys and a railing of the gallery was placed in front paiantă western side, free on three sides, so that its ground floor, opening three large arches broken arch, forming a portico in front of the church main entrance. With the consolidation begun in 1500, the tower was surrounded by a coat of stone, rising to the height of the second neck, consciously shaped roof console. Called Tower potters, this body of defense was provided with battlements, divided into two storeys by a platform of planks, higher sin is accessible through a narrow staircase that ascends the north wing. A corridor crossing the western side of the bell tower in link with the north wing of the south tower. This portico was closed to the bell tower, whose upper storeys were also furnished with battlements, paiantă gallery using the base defense tower, wearing a pyramid roof with tiles.
Strengthen this powerful western side corresponds to the east, high above the choir bastion, with beat guard, flat arches resting on buttresses around the choir joining. In the shadow of these arches are wide opened holes for pouring hot liquids. The devastation of the village in 1600 by mercenary troops, the church was burned and renovated in 1614. In 1890, they renewed the southern parts of the collateral vault. In 1892, the bastion above the choir, became unstable, was demolished, and in 1908, the church received a new roof.
Over the centuries, both Cetaţiii walls and towers and church itself was refortificate, recămăşuite and raised to meet evolving technique for fighting the besiegers. Today the figure rises with its towers above City rooftops of the city, as evidence of ancient existence.
https://www.directbooking.ro/

Fortified Church Agnita

Biserica evanghelică din Veseud este situată în satul Veseud, din comuna Chirpăr, județul Sibiu. Biserica a fost construită în secolul al XIII-lea și figurează pe lista monumentelor istorice 2010 sub codul cod LMI SB-II-a-B-12587, cu următoarele obiective:
Biserica evanghelică fortificată, cod LMI SB-II-m-B-12587.01, secolul al XIII-lea, secolul al XVI-lea, 1784 - 1785
Incintă fortificată (fragment), cu turn de poartă, cod LMI SB-II-m-B-12587.02, secolul al XVI-lea - XVIII-lea
Localitatea
Veseud, mai demult Vesăud, Veseud-Agnita (în dialectul săsesc Tsît, în germană Zied, Ziedt, în maghiară Szászvessződ, Vessződ), este un sat în partea de est a județului Sibiu, în Podișul Hârtibaciului. Aparține de comuna Chirpăr. Localitatea se află la 6 km sud de Agnita și a fost prima oară atestată în 1379. Biserica și fortificațiile care o înconjurau odinioară sunt așezate pe un promontoriu, lângă drum.
Biserica
Lăcașul de cult din Veseud era o bazilică romanică ridicată în secolul al XIII-lea. Ea avea probabil tipica absidă semicirculară, care a fost demolată la fortificarea de la sfârșitul secolului al XV-lea, pentru a se clădi deasupra corului un turn de apărare cu cinci niveluri. Din bazilica romanică s-a păstrat doar arcul triumfal semicircular.
Fortificația
O descriere a lui Friedrich Müller din 1857 amintește existența a două turnuri de apărare de plan pătrat, prevăzute cu galerii de apărare, și a două bastioane circulare. Din fortificațiile bisericii de la Veseud s-a mai păstrat un singur fragment de zid pe latura de miazăzi, lung de 20 metri și lat de un metru.

Fortified church in Veseud

The Saxon settlement, certified since 1283, builds in 1480-1486 one of the most beautiful evangelical-Lutheran churches in Transylvania. The size of the church mirrors the well-being of Moșna, which until 1533 was in competition with Medias and Biertan to become a seat of residence, a title obtained by Mediaș.
The current Gothic church built under the guidance of the Siberian stonecutter Andreas Lapicida was erected on the structure of the outer walls of a previous church of the 15th century. It's a three-aisle-lined hall. In 1520 it was built on its fortification, consisting of five towers, walls of 9 meters high, doubled on the southern side and with a guard road. The actual tower of the church houses three bells, the oldest of which dates back to 1515. The gate tower is south-east. On the southern side is the Slany Tower, which was used to store the bacon.
The bell tower was built in the 14th century, its height reached 7 levels and a guard road. To the south, there is another shorter tower, with three levels, which protects the pedestrian entrance. In the north-west and south-west corners were built bastions. On the northern side there is a four-level tower that protects pedestrian traffic. The church has three ships separated by four pairs of columns.
To the north and south are two chapels, which can be reached by spiral staircase turret attached to the church. The original altar made by Vincentius in 1521 is in the church of Cincu.The pulpit is the work stonecutter Andreas.
https://www.welcometoromania.eu/

Moșna Evangelical fortified church

The Romanesque three-aisles basilica originated from the 13th century and was re-shaped through fortification systems in 1500. On the original tower-less church a strong dungeon with defence level was built on the western side and the square chancel was strengthened with walls in such a manner, that it was possible to build another defensive tower there. At the same time, the side aisles were heightened and the building became a hall church. The central nave and the aisles were covered with fine lierne ribbed vaults. In the course of this work the rectangular precincts wall with four corner towers were also built, possibly as a replacement for an older system. The fortified buildings erected in the 16th and 17th century were used in part as accommodation. The ensemble was completed in 1914 by the construction of the community hall on the southern side. The pre-reformation crucifix above the triumphal arch was created in 1425.
Place and surroundings
Over the wooded hills on the edge of the valley of the river Hârtibaciu one will reach the village Dealu Frumos. The well preserved and typical for Transylvania fortified church with its white walls and red tiled tower roofs can be seen from far away.
The assembly was built in the center of the village to be easily accessible for all inhabitants in case of attacks. If time allowed, the cattle were driven behind the walls too, so it would not fall into the hands of the enemy. Groceries, cereals and bacon were stored within the massive walls. In the first half of the 16th Century the courtyard had to be enlarged due to the increase of the population. 100 years later another part of the wall was moved outwards to make space for more storage rooms. The whole community carried out the dismantling and rebuilding works, while the ongoing maintenance of individual sections was assigned to the various guilds in the village.
https://kirchenburgen.org/

Dealu Frumos fortified church

In Stejărişu a small, well-preserved fortified church can be visited. The former church and its surrounding village located just few miles away had to be abandoned because of persistent flooding, the construction of the new house of God started in the 14th century. Directly on the riverside of Hârtibaciu the foundations of a church were discovered, which point to the historical location of the village.
A few miles away and slightly uphill, in the middle of the new village a church was erected and surrounded by two ring walls. The two defensive towers were supposed to offer additional protection. A defensive level was built in the timber frame construction technique above the nave. Mid-19th century, the community dismantled the inner ring wall to use the stones for an extension of the church.
Due to many extensive repairs, the fortification preserves a good structural condition today.
Place and surroundings
It is a miracle that Stejărişu still exists, because it was not easy for the forefathers of the place. In the 13th Century German settlers came to the Hârtibaciu valley and founded a village. They have built houses, cultivated the fields and built themselves a church. After severe floods, the village was destroyed and it had to be moved a few miles uphill. During this time, threatening came not only from Ottoman attacks, but more than 100 years fought the Saxon nobles and the people of Sibiu provost for the possession of Stejărişu. The inhabitants of the village could not be discouraged by all the problems and stayed.Today, more than 600 years later, the fortified church survived as a witness for those old difficult times. It is located in the middle of a picturesque Transylvanian Saxon village.
An Austrian-Romanian Foundation supports local development and rural tourism. In the parish house close to the church guestrooms are available. Inside the fortification the visitors can buy homemade jams, honey, juice and other products made in the village.
https://kirchenburgen.org/

The fortified church from Stejărişu

In the old documents the settlement is called Maria’s Valley (Marienthal); legend has it that Maria was a young woman who set up the village together with a group of Saxon colonists.
As soon as they got here, around the year 1260, the Saxons built a three nave basilica with a belfry and a tribune facing the central nave for the chief of town. However, to defend themselves from the constant attacks of the Turks, in 1500 they fortified the church by adding a precinct wall and some defence towers.
Under the church floor there is a well which was used to supply water to the locals withdrawn inside the church during the invasions.
At first the baroque altar had seven sculpted statues; only one of them is left today, the one representing Jesus Christ.
In the tower there are three bells, the biggest seemingly built in the 15th century and bearing an inscription with capital letters.
http://www.sibiu-turism.ro/

The fortified church from Merghindeal

Legendara reşedinţă a familiei Bolyai din satul Buia, dar şi castelul de la Boarta, construit în stil baroc în 1770, au rămas acum doar ruine printre care se mai plimbă uneori localnicii bătrâni, copleşiţi de amintiri.
Pe un deal mic, pe care urci dintr-un drum neasfaltat, ruinele reşedinţei falnice de odinioară a familiei Bolyai zac încremenite într-un timp demult apus, plin de poveşti de care acum se interesează, din păcate, din ce în ce mai puţini.    Prima atestare a castelului datează din 1324, iar în perioada de înflorire avea 12 camere, o curte splendidă cu mese din pietre rotunde, cu brazi de jur-împrejur, o alee străjuită de castani şi o pivniţă ”de gheaţă” în care petrecea nobilimea. Peisajul era întregit de o biserică, cu fresce pictate de pereţi.    După bătălia de la Şelimbăr, din 1599, Sigismund Bathory îi donează castelul lui Mihai Viteazul, iar legendele povestesc că, după bătălii, domnitorul ar fi lăsat-o aici, timp de două săptămâni, pe doamna Stanca. Tot legendele spun că, după aceeaşi luptă, voievodul ar fi venit aici cu bijuterii puse într-o piele de bivol, pe care le-ar fi îngropat în jurul castelului.    Turnul cu coase şi teiul de spânzurătoare   De ruinele de acum, pe vremuri splendidă reşedinţă nobiliară, se leagă încă numeroase legende. ”Exista un turn de execuţie dotat cu coase şi o cameră de plângere lângă turn. Iobagii care nu se supuneau moşierului erau executaţi, iar cel care urma să fie executat trebuia să-şi spună păcatele în camera de plângere, apoi era aruncat între coase. La intrare, în partea stângă, era un tei, un copac de spânzurătoare, unde erau spânzuraţi iobagii care nu se supuneau”, povesteşte Karoly Szobo (77 de ani), fost învăţător în sat vreme de 40 de ani.    Tot legenda mai spune că în zidul castelului erau zidite călugăriţe care ieşeau doar noaptea şi cântau, dar şi că edificiul era legat printr-un tunel de satul Mighindoala, aflat în apropiere.    Dispensar şi magazie   În 1920, povesteşte Karoly Szabo, satul a ajuns în proprietatea statului român, iar până în 1978 aici a funcţionat un dispensar, pentru care au fost modificate şi amenajate două dintre camere. ”După ce a dispărut dispensarul nu s-a mai ocupat nimeni şi a fost abandonat, în timpul colectivului îl foloseau ca şi magazie”, povesteşte fostul învăţător.    Astăzi, castelul considerat monument istoric este doar o ruină, cu bucăţi de ziduri printre care calci cu grijă, pentru că pot oricând să se prăbuşească. Din când în când, îi mai trec pragul turişti, iar fostul învăţător povesteşte zâmbind că printre ei mai sunt şi acum persoane care vin şi caută bijuteriile ascunse ale lui Mihai Viteazul.    Castelul Tobias din Boarta, scos la licitaţie   La câţiva kilometri de Buia, în satul Boarta, un alt monument de patrimoniu, castelul Tobias, construit în anul 1770, în stil baroc, a rămas doar o ruină. În ultima şedinţă de Consiliul Judeţean, cea din 28 martie, aleşii au aprobat un proiect de hotărâre prin care se propune concesionarea prin licitaţie publică a castelului, pe o perioadă de 25 de ani.    Preţul de pornire la licitaţie este de 1200 de lei/an, cu o perioadă de graţie de 3 ani, timp în care concesionarul se obligă să restaureze imobilul şi să îl introducă în circuitul civil.    ”În ansamblu castelul se află într-o stare avansată de degradare. Lipsa întreţinerii, a amenajărilor exterioare, a canalizării, a colectării şi evacuării apelor pluviale sunt principalele probleme în conservarea imobilului. Starea avansată dee degradare constituie un real pericol în caz de cutremur sau vânt puternic. Urmare acestui fapt, pentru siguranţa şi prelungirea în timp a duratei de existenţă a imobilului se impune consolidarea pentru punerea în siguranţă a imobilului din punct de vedere seismic, restaurarea şi reabilitarea structurală”, se arată în proiectul de hotărâre.
https://adevarul.ro/

Tobias Boarta Castle

The Valea Viilor fortified church is a Lutheran fortified church in Valea Viilor (Wurmloch), Sibiu County, in the Transylvania region of Romania. It was built by the ethnic German Transylvanian Saxon community at a time when the area belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary. Initially Roman Catholic, it became Lutheran following the Reformation. Together with the surrounding village, the church forms part of the villages with fortified churches in Transylvania UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Background and church
There is evidence to suggest that an earlier Romanesque church existed in the village, as remnants could formerly be seen beneath the floor of the sacristy. This building is believed to have been 10 m long, less than half the length of the present church. The latter, in Gothic style and dedicated to Saint Peter, was begun in the 14th century. The small nave has a vaulted ceiling with a complex network of ribs, which rest on seven pairs of poles attached to the walls. The choir has a ceiling of the same type. Built in 1528, the pulpit was produced in a period of transition from Gothic to Renaissance.
The church underwent modifications at the beginning of the 16th century: a defensive level featuring parapets was added atop the nave, while towers were built next to the north and south entrances. Next to each of these was a small round tower with a spiral staircase that reached the fortified level. A third tower, near the buttress at the southwest end of the nave, provided access to the belfry, itself fitted with numerous and varied defense mechanisms. The choir was rebuilt as a three-story brick defensive tower with walls 1.5 m thick. A fourth level, which juts out slightly atop a row of corbels and is supported by arches built between the buttresses, has a timber frame parapet. The altar painting was executed in 1779 by an artist from Sighișoara.
Fortifications and recognition
A single oval fortification, constructed around 1500 and equipped with a battlement resting on brick arches, surrounds the church. Access is through an arched passage beneath the gate tower on the western side. This could be closed with a portcullis that had a grille of wood strengthened by iron. Three bastions survive, each facing one of the cardinal points. The walls reach 6–7 m in height; they have both parapets and embrasures supported by corbels.
In 1999, Valea Viilor, together with five other places, was added to the already-listed Biertan to form the villages with fortified churches in Transylvania UNESCO World Heritage Site. Additionally, the church is listed as a historic monument by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, with the wall and bastions being listed as a separate entry.