After a day in Sebes and switching cars and relatives it is time to move northeast through beautiful Transylvania. We want to pass a few fortified or historic Evangelical churches and even visit one or two that are Unesco World Heritage sites. First we pass Sura Mare Evangelical church but it looks closed so we move on through the former heartland of the Saxon settlers.
Many villages that we are passing had former strong Saxon roots with the houses following the fortress like style of the settlers. And with the descendants moving back to Germany many are abandoned, quite a waste of beautiful buildings.
Next we pass near the Slimnic Fortress, here we find the parking but it looks far and closed and we have a few more stops planned so we decide to move on and stop at the next fortress, the most famous one on our route and leave Slimnic for next time.
Valea Viilor Fortified Church, an Unesco World Heritage site is next and it is really impressive even from outside. The fortifications were built at the beginning of the 16th century to protect the villagers in case of enemy raids.
There are relatively few visitors today so we mostly have the fortress for ourselves. It consists of the exterior fortified wall protecting the Lutheran church inside. It is a narrow passage at first between the church and the walls however it becomes larger towards the back of the church. It is quite an impressive fortification, even more so given that it was built by villagers and not some noble.
We soon discover the bell tower of the church and the fact that it can be climbed. And of course we want to climb it, even tough our poor legs protest when we look up and see how high it goes.
Up and up we go catching our breath as we go and finally we arrive at the top, where the bells are. There are a few of them made in Germany mostly and of different sizes.
The largest bell is quite impressive and we enjoy walking around it before noticing the small windows and the impressive views outside.
In fact there are many windows for a 360 degree panorama and we enjoy the great views all around while dreading of the descent ahead of us.
And now down we go and the descend is easier than we expected especially if holding onto the walls, there are no guardrails here.
Now it is time to enter the church, it is larger inside than we expected but still cozy. With no one else inside we have the church for ourselves to visit and explore.
There are some nice details all around from the wishbone ceiling to some delicately carved and painted flowers on the pews. It looks a little less like a Lutheran Church and a bit more like Catholic. Which it actually was…so there it is.
Next it is time to explore the walls. They are surprisingly well maintained and after walking around for a while we find a stair going up to the next level, we wonder whether we should chance it?
But of course we have to do it, was there any questions about it? The problem is that after we start going on the second level we are not sure if there is a descent somewhere or we have to go all around it. Luckily after some time there is another stair so we don’t have to go back and then it is time to leave this magnificent fortress.
Now it is time to drive towards Targu Mures our next stop. Unfortunately we hit the train tracks right as the longest train in history is passing but otherwise it is smooth sailing and we reach the new divided highway and then Targu Mures.
In Targu Mures we have a relatively short stop planned. First we go to the market to buy some flowers and then we make a stop at a relatives grave to leave them, pay respects and for a moment of silence. And then we move on we still have a way to go today.
Before reaching our relative’s home in Bilbor we make one more stop to meet a friend. We spend a couple hours there talking and eating supper before finally reaching Bilbor and falling asleep soon after a long day driving.
