If you reach Târnava Mare, at Valea Viilor you will have an exciting experience. A handful of Saxons listen, lined up on the first three rows of benches, to the sermon uttered from the pulpit by the Lutheran priest.
Step into the place where the Saxons built a house of the Lord about 800 years ago! They came from thousands of kilometres away, they brought faith and vine shoots with them.
In the beginning, the locality was called Wurmloch, in Medieval German, meaning place with worms, and Baromlaka, in Hungarian, cattle market.
The name of Valea Viilor came with the fame of the vineyards that covered the hills.
Before long, the Saxons built this much larger church on the same site, and around it, in the 1500s, they erected towers and defensive walls. Thus, it became one of the strongest fortified churches of all those built by the Saxons. Proof that, in spite of tumultuous times, it still looks the same today.
If you get here, you will feel the church still preserves the soul of the people who built and defended it throughout the ages. You can almost hear the same bustle as in the old days, when smoked dishes were brought to the Bacon Tower. And, at the entrance into the yard, you will also discover a small museum, where you can admire traditional Saxon costumes, photos and other objects donated by members of the community. Brief historical insight On the site where the church was built as seen today, there was a Romanesque basilica, mentioned in 1414, from which some ruins were found. The one visible today, built in Gothic style, dates from the 14th century. It was originally dedicated to St. Peter (St. Petrus). In time, after the Reformation, the patron of the church was no longer mentioned and the name was no longer used. Specifics of the area
The entire locality keeps almost intact the traditional architecture and the initial parcelling and is under the protection of UNESCO, being listed on the World Heritage List. Here, one of the most typical village fortresses in Transylvania was built, completed around 1520. The fortress around the church is elliptical, initially reinforced by four short defensive towers on each side. The inscription "1501", recorded on the eastern tower, dates back to a stage of construction. The strong walls are provided with a series of arches, which made supply rooms on the ground floor. Above them, there was the patrolling walkway.
The fortification wall was built around 1500 and it reaches a height of six meters. The oval shape could be an indication that the Saxons used an older foundation of another enclosure surrounding the old basilica.
Invaluable treasures
From the inventory of the church's cultural goods it is worth mentioning the wooden pew dated from 1526 and the canopy of the pulpit from 1746.
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