Leaving the medieval city of Sighisoara, we rode south through Saxon Land and a corridor filled with fortified churches. These unique fortifications are well worth a visit.


One of the best preserved ones is the church in Biertan. The 15th century church is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is the only fortified church which is open and holds regular monthly services. Two and a half rings of wall encircle the church connected with a covered staircase. The graves of the bishops can be seen in the Bishops’ Tower. The interior boasts a sacristy door with 19 locks and a bastion where legend has it that couples desiring divorce were shut inside. Supposedly, only one couple in 400 years went through with divorce after two weeks of seclusion! Admission was well worth the little more than USD 1.



Our next stop was the fortified church in Brateiu. As with most of the others, we marveled at the structure from the outside since the inside was closed.

In the industrial town of Medias, we stopped to visit a motorcycle dealer importing several used models. It was a pleasant stop, and one that revealed the growing motorcycle market in Romania. Greeted by a rocket at the town’s entrace, we also saw the home of Hermann Oberth (for details, see our Sighisoara post).



From Medias we continued on to Copsa Mica, once home to a filthy carbon plant which left the village’s animals, snow, laundry, and home exteriors black. In the 1990s, the plant closed after years of devastating health effects in the region. A metalwork factory remains, supposedly with European standard filters in place. The structures remaining highlight much of what we have witnessed of the remains of Communism decaying against the natural beauty.



This was a pleasant trip, highlighting rolling countryside, Saxon fortified churches and a past that is trying to reconcile the pressures of the present. - BGR & HSR