Fortified Reformed Church from Ocna Sibiului

The fortified church in Ocna Sibiului can be considered one of the oldest churches built by the Saxon settlers in southern Transylvania.

The old Romanesque portal is decorated with a relief representing the tree of life, framed by two leopards. The style of the relief, as well as the heavy forms of the building, argue for a dating in the middle of the 13th century, just before the Mongol invasion.

The oldest historical monument of the Ocna Sibiului settlement, documented in 1263, is the fortified reformed church, the former medieval parish church, located on the central-southern side, on a slightly prominent promontory on the slope of the Visa stream.

The church is a Romanesque Basilica with six bays, with a tower above the choir, which has a cross vault, which consists of an apse and a square space with apsidioles next to the side naves. A large tower rises above the choir.

Newer, probably from the 15th century, are the network vaults of the naves, some framing elements of the portals, as well as the external buttresses. In the 16th century, a sacristy was added on the south side of the choir. The enclosure wall encloses an irregular perimeter. It was not reinforced with towers and is supported by external buttresses.

It is said that in the church are the crypts of some nobles who are still watching over the wellbeing of the community. Also, somewhere in the churchyard there is a rescue tunnel for residents in case of siege, dating from the medieval and post-medieval era.

The priest's pew and the crowning of the pulpit date from 1515.

During some works, the old frescoes and interior painting were discovered, the best preserved being the Crucifixion Scene, to the left of the pulpit, dated 1522.

Here you will also learn the story of an extraordinary woman, Júlia Bányai, born in Ocna Sibiului and died in Cairo. She was a freedom fighter who dressed as a man and fought in the revolution of 1848. She emigrated to Turkey, then Egypt.

At the entrance to the locality, from Sibiu, there is an important spa center, the Ocna Sibiului resort, also popularly called "the littoral of Transylvania". The resort is located near the city of Sibiu and is famous for its saline lakes and healing mud.

The spa building was built during the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, by order of Emperor Franz Joseph I, secessionist style construction, with architecture inspired by the Bible, with royal elements and symbols. Natural lakes with heliothermic salt water and mud, have multiple therapeutic effects. A mountain of salt can also be seen within the area of the lakes.

Discover the mystery and beauty of the fortified Church in Ocna Sibiului, where history, nature and stories of courage meet in the same place.