The castle was built by Bethlen Miklos between 1667-1683. It used to be surrounded by a double stone wall, five bastions and a moat. Bethlen Miklos' daughter Agnes married count Kemeny Zsigmond here in 1719. In 1856 the castle became the property of the Bruckenthal family. They restored the building and opened an agricultural school in it. The communist regime gave the castle to the state owned agricultural institution, and used the luxury rooms to accommodate the families of young engineers and milk-men coming from other parts of the country.
The castle was built by Bethlen Miklos between 1667-1683. It used to be surrounded by a double stone wall, five bastions and a moat. Bethlen Miklos' daughter Agnes married count Kemeny Zsigmond here in 1719. In 1856 the castle became the property of the Bruckenthal family. They restored the building and opened an agricultural school in it. The communist regime gave the castle to the state owned agricultural institution, and used the luxury rooms to accommodate the families of young engineers and milk-men coming from other parts of the country.In a span of 50 years the castle functioned as kindergarten, prison, canteen, butcher's shop and champagne section, this leading to the destruction of all beautiful frescos and stuccos.
The spiral stairs that once were amazing with all those statues are now on the verge of collapse, and so is the balcony. The void that lies behind the broken windows is now protected by a huge lock on a rusty chain, but this does not protect the building against one archenemy: time.
https://www.welcometoromania.eu/

Sânmiclăuș Bethlen castle

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On the main square of Blaj stands the former Bagdi Castle, which since 1738 (with a small interruption in the 20th century) functions as the Greek Catholic Archbishop's Palace. The castle was built in 1534-1535 by György Bagdi, who designed a T-shaped residential tower with three floors. The entrance was reinforced with a fire-line.
In 1617 the building was known as the hunting seat of Gábor Bethlen. The Prince of Transylvania reconditioned the castle and the church standing in the garden as well and in 1619 donated it to Simon Pécsi, Chancellor of Transylvania. The new owner started renovating the castle and repaired the nearly one hundred years old Protestant Church too. The inscription of a marble plaque right above the church doors is an excellent evidence for this: „Hic iter est, veniant sitientes bibere, lymhos, post quas non ultra concutit atra sitis. A.D. 1629” On December 14th, 1664 Anna Bornemissza, the wife of Mihály Apafi (Prince of Transylvania) moved into the castle. On October 27th 1687 a very important agreement had been signed in this building between the Habsburg Empire and the Transylvanian Parliament, pursuant to which Transylvania was officially attached to the Habsburg Empire. On this occasion Charles, Duke of Lorraine represented the emperor and Mihály Teleki, Chancellor represented the Transylvanian Assembly.
In 1737 Charles III donated the estate to the Greek Catholic Church and in the next year Inocentiu Micu Klein used the building as the bishop’s residence. Since then the castle had undergone various construction projects, in 1842 it was expanded with a north wing as well.
https://castleintransylvania.ro/

Bagdi Castle (Blaj)

Once in Cetatea de Baltă, Alba County, on the banks of Târnava Mică and discovering Bethlen-Haller Castle that seems to guard the entire horizon, we cannot fail to notice the new life that it has. Our hearts are filled with gratitude, noticing that we can easily get lost in a landscape similar to France or Italy. The beautiful reborn Bethlen-Haller Castle, its details, the order and the surrounding air.
We are guided with good energy, smiles and a lot of passion by Bogdana. As we love the places that breathe through their people, we understand from the beginning that we will be very happy to return.
The journey at Bethlen-Haller Castle begins with a tour. It has a troubled history, unknown sometimes. Similar to the styles in which it was built (Renaissance, Baroque, avant-garde and extravagant) so are its days, owners, stories. Typically Renaissance built, the four-tower Bethlen-Haller Castle was built between 1615-1624 by Miklos Bethlen, Chancellor of Transylvania. However, it has undergone numerous transformations over time. Between 1769-1773 it was renovated in Baroque style. It was bought from the Tax Office, sold, bet and lost at card game, passing from the possession of Bethlen family to Haller family. It was like this starting with the second half of the 19th century, until the year of expropriation, 1948.
During the communist period, Bethlen-Haller Castle became vinification section, while the original furniture, decorations and collectibles disappeared or were destroyed. After 1989, it was claimed and returned to Haller family, then bought by Necşulescu family, who restored it. It became after a symbol of Jidvei and in 2020 the family opened it completely for the public.
We are grateful for the generous tour, for the small imperfections we observe, which make Bethlen-Haller Castle more beautiful. In one of the towers there is an old wooden staircase. Hanging on the walls surrounding the staircase we see old clocks, one for each birthday celebration of the owner. Also it is said that at the base of the stairs, the old door would have been the passage to a secret tunnel that connected the two castles of the Bethlen family. It is this one and the one in Sânmiclăuș.
We also find out that the current objects and paintings inside Bethlen-Haller Castle have been collected over time from various collections. Some of the rooms have been painted by students from the University of Arts. However, one of the painted walls has only an outline, without a completed model, a symbol of the beauty of imperfection, the specificity of this place. We stop next to an old piano, the only object left in the castle from the period when it became a warehouse. Made in Vienna, today it looks tired, completely out of tune, but with a symbolic beauty, that only a trial can offer as gift. We can feel the emotion while touching it.
Bethlen-Haller Castle is, therefore, a story. It needs to be discovered in peace, understood, valued. It has many corners, windows, details that are worth sniffing in a personal rhythm. We arrive to our room, one of the four currently available and renovated. Time travel, tall windows under which a beautiful field and sunset appear, perfect furniture, white bedding, painted walls and an elegant bathtub, romantically surrounded by a transparent curtain. For a moment you are there, back in time.
On the first day we better understood the history and current story of Jidvei wineries. We were glad to find out so many new things. Jidvei has 2500 ha of vineyard, the largest single-owner area in Europe, processing over 25 million kg of grapes annually. At the same time, it inaugurated the first gravitational winery in Europe and today it produces 54 different labels. Jidvei has four wineries, in Jidvei, Tăuni, Blaj and Bălcaciu. The storage capacity is over 35 million liters. Jidvei winery, built in 1974, has the largest storage capacity, with a modern fermentation technology, fully automated. Blaj, founded in 1989, hosts the oldest wines. Bălcaciu (1958) has the sparkling wines and wine distillates. Established in 2014, Tăuni is unique, thanks to fermentation and storage tanks, equipment and facilities, modern technologies. It uses gravitational energy, for minimal intervention in the winemaking process.
https://romanian-romance.com/

Bethlen-Haller Castle

On the hill of Ozd, you can see the rectangular castle with corner bastions built in Gothic style in 1682 by Pekri Lőrinc, the man of Rakoczi Ferenc II. In 1732 it was rebuilt, after the attack of the lobons, which burned the castle, leaving only the bastions of the corners untouched. The castle was rebuilt by Radák Ádám, Pekri's son-in-law. The last owner of the castle, surrounded by forest, famous for the park and the lake in front of him, was Baroness Teleki Ilona, who left the country because of nationalization in 1945.
The building housed kindergarten, school, house of culture was and seat CAP, which remained in the castle until its destruction. After89 the castle was returned to Mrs Jude Mária, an heiress from France.
Restitution after she donated castle Bonus Pastor Foundation, which decided to renovate the building and annexes nearby. Renovation comes with substantial external help. The works are in progress.
https://www.welcometoromania.eu/

Ozd Pekri-Radak castle

The church in Boian was erected around the year 1400, but it is difficult to determine which parts of the initial construction have been preserved to this day. Nevertheless, it is known that around 1500 the religious edifice was fortified, a defence level being built above the chancel. The fortification wall was designed to include a parapet walk, partly built on two levels and strengthened by a gate tower. The latter also served as a bell tower having its entrance protected by a portcullis (sliding wooden lattice reinforced with iron). Another detail that is worth mentioning is the decoration of the cornice with angled bricks, a method often used for the Orthodox churches in Moldavia and Muntenia regions.
Furthermore, on both gate tower and northern entrance of the church one can find the coat of arms of the Moldavian prince Stephan the Great, to whose fief Boian briefly belonged.
Place and surroundings
It is utterly uncommon to find the symbol of the ureox at the entrance to an Evangelic church. And yet, in Boian, on the Northern portal of the fortified church, one can see the symbol of Moldavia carved in the shape of the relief of two ureox heads. Unlike most of the Saxon villages, this place was not part of the Royal Land (a self-administered Saxon territory), but it was part of The County of Cetatea de Baltă (Moorland Fortress). The colonists on the Royal Land were loyal only to the Hungarian king and used to enjoy a special status and privileges, while the inhabitants of the counties, Hungarian admininistrative areas, were all serfs under the authority of the feudal lord.
In 1498, Matei Corvin, king of Hungary, offered The County of the Moorland Fortress as a gift to the Moldavian prince Stephan the Great. The prince supported the completion of the massive fortification around the sacred church, fact that is suggested by the presence of his coat of arms on the wall – the ureox head.
https://kirchenburgen.org/

Boian fortified church

The church was built in the 15th century by the local Saxon community. A century later, it was fortified by adding a precinct wall and the defence towers.
After the 1300s, Bazna was taken over by the Mediaş Seat as a free village, as certified by the documents from those days. In the choir the church still hosts a 1504 tabernacle with a representation of Jesus. A not so common feature is that the belfry which also operates as a gate tower still hosts three bells from the 14th - 15th century. Many bells of the Saxon fortified churches were melted during the First World War to make warfare equipment. The ones from Bazna are among the very few which “escaped” melting.
http://www.sibiu-turism.ro/

The fortified church from Bazna

Biserica evanghelică fortificată din Țapu, comuna Micăsasa, județul Sibiu, a fost construită în secolul XV. Ansamblul bisericii evanghelice fortificate este format din biserică, incinta fortificată, cu turn de poartă și acces secundar fortificat și este monument istoric, cod LMI SB-II-a-A-12575 și are următoarele obiective:
cod LMI SB-II-m-A-12575.01 - Biserica evanghelică fortificată, sec. XIV - XV, transf. 1625, 1838;
cod LMI SB-II-m-A-12575.02 - Incintă fortificată, cu turn de poartă și acces secundar fortificat, csec. XIV - XVI.
Localitatea
Așezarea și locuitorii săi au fost supuși unui proces lung de schimbare a unui statut de comună aservită din secolul al XIV-lea, până la cel de comună liberă ca urmare a desfințării iobagiei din secolul al XIX-lea, respectiv anul 1848. Din documentele existente rezultă că localitatea a făcut parte în secolul al XIII-lea din proprietățile abației de Igriș, motiv pentru care i se spunea pe atunci Villa Abbatis sau altfel spus "Satul Abatelui". În a șaptea decadă a secolului al XV-lea, un document menționează că Țapu împreună cu alte trei localități: Șoroștin, Mănărade și Cenade, făceau parte dintr-o uniune religioasă al cărei decanat se situa la Cenade. Ulterior, aceste localități au format și o uniune administrativă. Au existat numeroase încercări din partea nobilimii maghiare de despărțire a acestor uniuni administrativ - religioase, încercări soldate cu eșecuri repetate datorită faptului că acestea se bucurau de protecție regală. Mai târziu, cele patru, au intrat în posesiunea principelui Gheorghe Rákóczi al II-lea, adică la mijlocul secolului al XVII-lea. La sfârșitul secolului al XVIII-lea, Maria Terezia le arondează conților Teleki.
Biserica
Biserica-hală se află pe dealul care domină comuna și este înconjurată de o incintă ovală. Construită din piatră bătută de carieră, biserica datează de la începutul secolului al XV-lea, așa cum reiese din formele stilistice caracteristice goticului târziu. Corul lung și îngust este împărțit de două arce frânte într-un pătrat boltit în cruce și o absidă pentagonală. În mod similar bisericilor din Axente Sever și Agârbiciu, s-a încercat construirea unui turn deasupra corului, dovadă în acest sens stând grosimea pereților existenți astăzi. Lipsurile financiare au împiedicat, însă, realizarea acestui proiect. Pe peretele din nordul corului se poate vedea o nișă de tabernacul cu un frumos baldachin, ferestrele corului păstrând încă mulurile traforate în arc frânt. În anul 1625, ferestrele naveiau fost tranformate în formă rectangulară, au fost ridicate portalurile laterale ce au arhivolte în arc frânt și s-au construit contraforții care sprijină pereții bisericii. Într-o cu totul altă etapă s-a alipit sacristia pe latura nordică a corului, pentru ca în anul 1838 să fie adăugat portalul nordic cu portic.
Fortificația
Fortificația este construită din piatră de râu și de carieră, înaltă de 6 metri și este prevăzută cu două rânduri de metereze. De asemenea se pot vedea urmele unui drum de strajă în consolă. Intrarea se face prin vest, pe sub un turn cu trei niveluri, sprijinit de contraforturi. Turnul este prevăzut cu un drum de strajă construit sub acoperișul în patru ape. O hersă protejează intrarea pietonală.
Alipite pe interiorul incintei se regăseau până în anul 1941 diverse cămări de provizii, unde se păstrau băuturi, cereale, fructele și nelipsita slănină. Similar, în secolul al XIX-lea, au fost construite astfel de cămări și pe peretele nordic al bisericii, ele având un rol suplimetar în protecția contra incendiilor. De asemenea, în incintă a existat până în anul 1852 și o capelă destinată credincioșilor catolici. Capela a fost demolată și cu materialele rezultate s-a construit o școală.

Fortified Evangelical Church

The Evangelic church in Axente Sever is an important witness of the hard times the region had to bare. Therefore not only the ring wall was strengthened for defensive purposes, but the church building itself was also fortified. The massive tower between hall and chancel, dating back to the 14th century has a parapet walk on the highest level and on the first and second floors simple, elongated loopholes that end as a niche towards the interior. Both the chancel and the nave were heightened with defence levels with loopholes. The arches built between the reinforced buttresses on the western facade support the defence level. A portcullis, whose guiding slides are still visible today, protected the western portal. Along the outer wall there are partially preserved and reconstructed storage rooms which are used as guest rooms today.
Place and surroundings
The fortified church of Axente Sever was not only the religious center of the settlement over the centuries, but also a secure place to deposit valuable goods. In the numerous storage buildings in the precincts of the castle wall, rooms were assigned to each family from the village for storing grain, meat and other food. Corn was not stored on farms, but brought directly to the fortification after harvest to protect it from possible attackers. A special procedure was the storage of the bacon in the so-called bacon towers, which were opened to families only on Sundays after church service. To ensure that no one was serving from a different piece of bacon, each family scratched an individual sign on the freshly cut edges. The storage rooms have been transformed into guestrooms in recent years so that today visitors can sleep inside the mighty walls. In addition, a museum was set up to report on the history of the village and the fortified church.
https://kirchenburgen.org/

Axente Sever fortified church

The Gothic Evangelical Church of Șeica Mică was built in 1411. The lodge has three ships, a bell tower and an elongated choir. The ships have a straight ceiling, and the choir is ribbed, and five beautifully decorated windows.
The central ship connects to the lateral corridors by gothic arches resting on four pillars. The church had two altars built in 1552 and 1762 respectively. The old one was stolen in 1999, the current one is marble.
Inside the church there is also the tombstone of the priest Michael Oltard, who served here 23 years and died in 1623. The tower was built in 1463. The fortification of the church was made in the 16th century, the first time it was surrounded by a a defense tower with three towers, after which the transverse walls and the second defense wall were lifted, which was preserved in its entirety. From the inner wall only the arch of the defense gallery on the south-west side of the church were preserved. The beautiful bronze crystals made in 1556 are in the church Sf. Margareta din Medias.
https://www.welcometoromania.eu/

Șeica Mică Evangelical fortified church

In the early 14th Century an early Gothic basilica was built in the middle of the village. The aisles were removed and the arcades were bricked up in 1500, when the church was fortified. Above the chancel a defence tower was erected. The chancel’s polygonal closure was heightened with two defence levels and the buttresses were connected by arches, in order to build a machicoulis gallery behind them. The ensemble was strengthened by a surrounding wall in 1502, completed by a gate building and an adjoining bacon Chamber on the north-west side . The tower was heightened in 1827 and received its striking pyramidal roof. At the same time its defence systems together with the defence level of the chancel were removed . The typical western gable of the church was erected in the same time with the renewal of the roof in 1854. Inside the church the mainly 18th-century furniture is still preserved.
Place and surroundings
For centuries, music has added nobility to the wonderful fragrance of the gardens in Agârbiciu. The choristers, the organists, the school teachers, the priests and the pupils used to be responsible for the musical life of the Transylvanian Saxon villages. Beginning with the 16th Century, the brass bands appeared in the Southern and Central regions of Transylvania and their instrumentalists brought their contribution to the social harmony of rural life by the musical harmony they produced. Can there be anything more charming than Christmas carols sounding in perfect unison with the snow-covered landscape and the smell of homemade cakes? The brass band used to play in the tower of Agârbiciu not only on Christmas and New Year’s Eve, but also at weddings, balls and on various other occasions. Historical dissonances, wars and Communism have caused the unfortunate end of this tradition. But even without music, the village and its fortified church and old houses harmoniously vibrate with the lively natural environment that surrounds them like the frame of a pastoral picture.
https://kirchenburgen.org/

Agârbiciu fortified church

This medieval building located in Uioara de Sus (village under Ocna Mures administration) was built at the turn of the 13th century under orders received from hungarian royalty in order to protect the nearby salt mine. It is certified by historical documents since 1290, appearing under the name "Castrum Novum" ("The New Castle"), suggesting previous existence of another fortification on the same spot that is believed to be dated in 10th or 11th century.
Beginning with the 15th century the castle and the annexes had many owners, till the year 1649 when they were donated fo Mikes family. In 1742 the residence was rebuilt in baroque style. The only source of information on how the building would look in the eighteenth century is a painting by Joseph Neuhauser in 1791, that is found today at the National Art Museum in Cluj. The building appears as a compact volume with two levels and a high roof, to which are attached a gate tower and a hexagonal corner tower. The facade is treated unit with specific transylvania baroque plaster decorations.
During the 1848 revolution the building was almost completely destroyed by fire. It was bought in 1854 by the count Miko Imre - governor of Transylvania and founder of the Transylvania Museum Society. After the pass of Miko family the castle gets in the Teleki family possession.
Inside the courtyard there is a wine cellar and a chapel, which was originally equipped with an organ. At the initiative of the Teleki family, around the castle was built a park with walkways and trees, including naturalized species, some arboretum rarities.
Old folks in the village talk about the legend of a ghost haunting the local Teleki castle. The story took place in the period of the Second World War. A few Russians entered the castle cellar wich was filled with barrels of wine, where they got drunk. Wasted drunk, they began firing weapons at the huge barrels, so thousands of liters of wine were poured in the basement of the castle and the russians drowned. People say that all this happened because of the ghots in the cellar.
Today the building is in an advanced state of decay and is in the process of restitution to Teleki family.
https://m.facebook.com/