Ensemble of the Fortified Reformed Church in Cricău

If you traverse Transylvania along the path of stone and wine, you cannot miss Cricău and its Reformed Church. The ensemble in Cricău is composed of the church building and a fortified enclosure. The church is one of the oldest churches built by Transylvanian Saxons. The place of worship, initially Roman Catholic, has served over time as a Lutheran Evangelical and Reformed Calvinist church for the Saxon community in Cricău and now belongs to the Hungarian Reformed community.

Story of the place

The first groups of settlers established in Transylvania came from the Rhine and Moselle regions, Flanders, and northern France. The settlers from Cricău, Ighiu, and Romoș are mentioned as Saxons in 1206.

The church built in Cricău by Saxons dates back to the 13th century. Around the church, a stone wall was built for defense purposes only in the 16th century.

The church was restored in the period 1966 – 1967, during which the decision was made to pave the sanctuary floor of the church with pieces of brick brought from the Apoulon Fortress at Piatra Craivii, bricks visibly bearing the seal of the Roman legion: Legion XIII Gemina Apulum.

Around the church, for defense, a fortress with four bastions was built in the 15th-16th centuries. The visible fortress wall today is 1-3 meters high and bears two traces of bastions. In the west, in the 18th century, the Csáky Mansion was attached, later called the Bürger Mansion.

Representation of the Legend of Saint Ladislaus

Information about the three layers of painting in the church began to be introduced into the specialist literature as early as the first half of the 20th century when isolated color spots and a few recognizable scenes emerged from the deteriorated plaster.

The first layer was created after the construction of the church around 1230-1240. In this layer, the consecration crosses and a decorative-pictorial – floral painting made in shades of reddish-brown – red are clearly distinguished. The second layer of fresco is important because specialists have discovered fragments of what could be one of the oldest representations of the Legend of Saint Ladislaus, the scene of the Pursuit of the Cuman and possibly the scene of the Battle. Also in this stage, the paintings depicting Saint Christopher were made. These murals are dated around the year 1300. In the third layer of fresco, superimposed on the second one, we can distinguish among other fragments with various themes executed in Italo-Byzantine style.

Unique Experiences

If you are in the area, it is worth making time to visit the Dacian fortress of Apoulon, Piatra Craivii. The fortress is located approximately 13 km from Cricău. The rock on which it was built is at an altitude of 1,083 m. It is said that this place was a "spiritual center" of the Dacians.