Greater Truths – Beyond The Façade: Biertan Fortified Church

I made a mistake in Biertan, one that I am likely to repeat again in the future due to time constraints and that never ending challenge to a traveler’s itinerary, trying to do too much with too little time. I was able to visit Biertan Fortified Church, spending about an hour there. This was not nearly enough time to do the church justice. Five hundred years of architectural, ethnic, and religious history deserves more than an hour. Divining the secrets that the church has stored up over the centuries takes scrutiny. Skimming the surface left me with indelible impressions, but my experience was lacking in depth. Only later did I discover just how much I had missed.

         In depth – Exploring Biertan Fortified Church

Visions of Biertan – Reality & Reputation
The Biertan Fortified Church had been a personal infatuation for me ever since I set foot in Transylvania on this trip. For several evenings I sat in a hotel room in Szekelyudvarhely staring at photos of the church I had found online. I read and reread my guidebook’s writeup on Biertan. Seeing the church had become an obsession after I visited the Darjiu Fortified Church during my first day in Transylvania. That church was also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Fortified churches were a Szekely and Saxon specialty. Visiting another one that lived up to the standards of Darjiu was possible. The one in Biertan happened to be the most accessible. It was just a matter of fitting the church into my itinerary. Biertan was a half hour side trip off the highway that would eventually take me to Timisoara. I made it to Biertan, but my visit was brief.

I should have known better than to spend so little time at a major historical attraction. I knew prior to visiting Biertan that its fortified church was lauded as one of the best in Transylvania and of world historical importance. There was no doubt in my mind of the church’s structural greatness after I caught sight of its exterior. Reality matched reputation. But this was only the church’s façade. Religion is an internal affair, and the most spiritual part of any church is found within the interior. This is where the heart and soul of a sacral structure is to be found. Spiritualism is more than skin deep. I stepped inside the church to further investigate.

The interior of the Biertan Fortified Church was airy, austere, and humbling. I had been to similar sized Gothic Hall churches in Brasov and Cluj, but those two are in the center of cities. They form part of those cityscapes and are inseparable from their surroundings. The fortified church at Biertan rose above its surroundings. The church was reaching for the heavens. This powerfully provocative work of architecture communicated to me just how important the Protestant faith was to the Saxon community. From 1572 to 1867, the church was the bishopric for the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the most prominent spiritual force in the life of Transylvania’s Saxons. Power was centered here. So were many secrets.

 Safe & secure – Lock on Sacristy door at Biertan Fortified Church (Credit: wuppertaler)

Marital Therapy – Learning To Live Together
In another part of the complex lies an even greater source of fascination. The church is rightfully famous for its three concentric rings of fortifications, rising one after another. Besides the church, the fortified walls are the complex’s most noticeable architectural feature. I spent part of my visit walking along the walls, getting a feel for their size and scale. Along the way, I may have passed by what is known as the marital prison. It is no secret that prior to the latter half of the 20^th century, divorce was frowned upon in Europe. Marriage was an unbreakable pact according to the church. This did not stop those who yearned to be free of marital bonds. Lutheran Saxons had a unique way of dealing with this issue. When a couple wanted to divorce, they were sent to the marital prison for months long therapy with each other.

The prison consists of a small room located along one of the fortification walls. The couple would be put in this confined space together for up to six weeks. Those that proved they could work out their differences were set free after two weeks. Those who did not had to spend several more weeks together. The furnishings in the room were limited to only one bed, one chair, one table, one plate, and one spoon. The couple was forced to share. Whether this system worked or not, I have no idea, but I would not have bet against it. Many couples likely agreed to mend their differences to get freed from these close quarters. The Saxons were nothing, if not austere. Ironically, the only ostentatious thing I saw in Biertan was the fortified church and its interior was devoid of the florid religiosity found in churches and cathedrals of the Catholic faith.

   Heart and soul – Interior of Biertan Fortified Church (Credit: wuppertaler)

Making Time – A Lifelong Pursuit
The mysteries of Saxon life and spirituality can be found within the walls of Biertan Fortified Church by those who devote enough time to explore the entire complex. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of rushing through it. I regretted my haste at the time and that regret only grew when I learned more. I should have spent more time in Biertan and Transylvania. Days, weeks, months, or the rest of my life. Any of those are a good start.  

Optical Illusions – Biertan: From Massive To Miniature In Transylvania

Traveling from Saschiz to Biertan by road only takes 45 minutes if you can survive the trip. Being a driver or a passenger in Romania is not for the faint of heart. The driver spends most of their time in passive aggressive mode trying to avoid accidents that are waiting to happen. It is not much better for passengers. This involves being an innocent observer who has no control over potentially calamitous situations. The passenger is absolved of responsibility, at the same time they might be absolved of life. The best strategy is to distract oneself from what is happening on the road. The problem is that it is hard to look away. Curiosity can almost kill you. The passenger who cannot keep from watching the road is in for a heart wrenching experience.

     Rising above – Biertan Fortified Church and the surrounding village

Running The Risk – Life Goes On
Both drivers and passengers traveling on Romanian roads must always be prepared for the worst. There is a great deal of risk involved in choosing whether to drive or ride. The choice comes down to whether you want to put your life in someone else’s hands or into your own. Either way, Romanian road travel is bound to induce moments of intense stress. Head on collisions are a distinct possibility due to motorists who love nothing more than passing anything that gets in their way for the possibility of getting to their destination a little bit faster. The only saving grace for a foreigner is the immense amount of relief felt upon arrival. Surviving near-death experiences on the roads are not what must people have in mind when they visit Transylvania, but that is what many of them get. I know from experience.

There are vast rewards for taking roads in Romania that outweigh any risks. The greatest of these is to find an open road where the traffic is light. Imagine traveling in Transylvania on a strip of two-lane tarmac running up a valley with mountains in the distance. Fertile farmland and flowery meadows dot the landscape. Forests thick with trees and abundant wildlife are never far away. Cool and clear streams run swift and silent while carving their way to distant outlets. The pleasure of such pastoral landscapes feels eternal. At times, the land and people appear to be in medieval times. Horses provide more than locomotion as cars in many villages. Life goes on the way it has for centuries. The traveler gets the drive by thrill of seeing it at 80 kilometers per hour. Such scenes were to be found between Saschiz and Biertan. The latter promised many more with the added benefit of having a UNESCO World Heritage Site as its centerpiece. Biertan was too good an opportunity for me to pass up, Timisoara would have to wait.

           Proud towers – Biertan Fortified Church

In Bloom – Sprinkled With Magic
This Transylvanian Road trip followed the Tarnava River Valley along Highway 14 to the turnoff for Biertan at Saras pe Tarnave. As soon as the turn was made the Saint Helen Fortified Church appeared on a hillside in Saras. Fortified churches are a hallmark of Transylvanian villages, they provided spiritual and physical protection from the Middle Ages to early modern times. Now they provide aesthetic beauty and an opportunity to see back in time. A traveler could spend months by going from one fortified church to the next. I, like most visitors, had a limited amount of time in Transylvania. This meant seeing one of the highlights. The greatest of which still lay nine kilometers ahead at Biertan. The road was in good condition and blissfully devoid of traffic. A rare combination that sprinkled the final 15 minutes of this side trip with magic. There was not a cloud in the sky on this summer day.

The entire world was in bloom. Flanked by lush vegetation, the road opened before the vehicle offering an invitation to go further towards the iconic and still invisible Biertan. I longed to catch the first glimpse of the village and its famous fortified church. I was chasing an image of Biertan I had seen several times before. I longed to see if that image fit reality. The anticipation built as the road wound its way between the hills and ever deeper into the countryside. The expectation made this journey seem longer than it was in actuality. Then the village and church appeared. The two were similar yet distinct. The village was quaint and homey, the church magisterial and massive, towering above the surroundings. The village and church complemented each other. One would not have been as enchanting without the other.

              Bucolic setting – Biertan

Ever Upward – A Looming Presence
My eyes did not deceive me. There was no way of getting around the fact that everything in Biertan radiated around the fortified church. In the village’s narrow side streets, I oriented myself by its looming walls and spires. Biertan was more than the fortified church, but I found it impossible to look past such a looming presence. The church was an attention getter, one star shown in Biertan; everything else was there to provide depth. My eyes were always drawn back to it and ever upward. I could hardly wait to step within its walls. Doing so, I realized the church’s scale was daunting. It was not just a church, but an entire complex. Towers, covered stairwells, and three concentric rings of walls were among the architectural touches that made it so formidable. Even more impressive was that the church stood as the centerpiece of a village with 2,200 inhabitants.

While I had been in plenty of massive churches and cathedrals across Europe, I had never visited one in a village of this size. By the standards of Transylvanian villages, Biertan was sizable, well-kept, and looked vaguely prosperous. When I looked down from the walls onto the village, the red tiled roofs of the Saxon houses stacked along the streets were tiny by comparison. I knew that this was an optical illusion. Only minutes earlier, I had stood on Biertan’s streets beside those same houses. They were larger than houses I had seen in other Transylvanian villages. The problem was that they lay in the church’s shadow. As did everything else in Biertan. 

Click here for: Greater Truths – Beyond The Façade: Biertan Fortified Church

They Call It An Accident – Road Risk In Romania: Terror Across Transylvania (Part Two)

While driving in Transylvania I had trouble figuring out what was worse, fearing for my own life or watching so many others risk their own. Over several days I documented the following incidents while traveling around Transylvania by automobile:

A Litany Of Near Crashes – The Open Road Takes A Toll
* Two men trying to fix their broke down van at the beginning of a curve. One of whom decided it was a good idea to stoop down behind the bumper with his back to oncoming traffic as he stared confusedly at the rear bumper.

* A man riding his motor scooter the wrong way against traffic on the main road through a village. He did not look worried, only in a hurry. His stern gaze was fixed on a path only he knew to follow. This man gets extra credit for wearing a helmet.

*One driver almost causing a head-on collision because he decided to pass three cars all at once. Passing the first car was fine, the second a bit more dangerous and the third proved nearly fatal. An accident was avoided at the last moment only because the oncoming car slammed on its breaks to allow the offender to jump back into the correct lane. It was one of those moments where it may have been more frightening for onlookers than the offending driver. I imagined the sound of glass shattering, the shrill scraping of metal on metal and the screams of humans writhing in pain. Fortunately, this feat of frightened imaginings was just that. That did not stop me from putting hand to mouth and saying aloud “oh my god.” A life threatening car crash was avoided by a hair’s breadth.

* In the town center of Cristuru Secuiesc (Szekelykeresztur), while coming up to a stoplight one car tried to change lanes with another car beside it. This should have resulted in the other car being struck, but both vehicles swerved wildly to avoid each other by a few inches. This resulted in three cars standing improbably parallel to one another on a two-lane street. No one so much as shook a fist or honked their horn. The situation seemed to sort itself out.

* One of the most unforgettable moments came when a woman in a BMW passed just before the start of a curve. She tore past the vehicle in front of her with reckless abandon. There was little doubt in the five seconds or so that it took for her to complete the pass that she was hell bent on making it happen. I was less worried for her, then the potential innocent driver who might be coming the other way. Fortunately, no vehicle approached from the opposite direction.

Passing fancy – Distracted driving decisions abound in Transylvania (Credit: modestine4.blogspot.com)

Getting Ahead – A Race To The End
These were just a few of the crazy things I saw or experienced on driving in Transylvania. This recklessness cannot just be passed off onto Romanian drivers. Our route took me and my wife through a majority Hungarian area. I had seen Hungarians do the same wild driving at times back in Hungary, but never with the degree of risk or recklessness I witnessed at what seemed like every other turn in Transylvania. And the litany of near crashes listed above does not account for all the endless distractions that would appear and disappear with little rhyme or reason along Transylvanian roads. Dogs were nearly run down by speed demon drivers on multiple occasions. Men rode horses down sidewalks, a rather delightful sight, until I considered that such distractions might cause me to lose my focus on driving. There is a good reason I saw so few people using cell phones while they drove. Such a distraction was a sure way to have an accident. This precaution had nothing to do with the law. I never saw the police ticketing a motorist. Instead, the few times I did spot a police car, there were two men in it looking as though they were doing their best not to pay attention to the cars roaring past.

The driving mentality in Transylvania could best be summed up as do whatever you can to get their faster. If someone could cheat death for a few seconds by jumping a car or three ahead they seemed to think chancing life was worth the risk. About the only positive thing I could say about driving in the region was that the roads – with a few notably nightmarish exceptions – were much better than I could have hoped for. They were serviceable, which by the standards of Eastern Europe makes them above average. This made them a double-edged sword because better roads meant faster drivers. I found it a source of fascination how we would be driving along, no one else in sight, when suddenly a vehicle would appear behind me. Within seconds it would be inches away from the rear bumper, veering slightly to the left in the hopes a pass was possible. This happened so many times that I became increasingly paranoid to the point where I was constantly glancing at the rearview mirror waiting for the next would be road racer to appear.

Patchwork – A rural highway in Transylvania (Credit: modestine4.blogspot.com)

The Cost Of Recklessness – Circumstantial Evidence
In four days of driving in a wide variety of circumstances – through villages, over mountains, flanked by dark forests, across slanting mountain meadows, on straightaways and infinitely twisting roads I only came upon a single accident. This was the most surprising part of my driving experience in Transylvania. On our final day we were entering a village on the outskirts of Medias. While coming down a hill we noticed the flashing lights of an ambulance and police car. In the middle of the road were two cars, one had crashed into the front side of the other. No one looked to be hurt, but the cars were likely totaled. The culprits stood on the roadside talking with the police. Several villagers had gathered on the sidewalk staring at the accident. It was hard to tell what had happened, but I am quite sure it involved someone in a hurry, sheer recklessness and the need to get ahead at all costs. This smashup was going to cost someone a small fortune in car repair, but it not did cost them their lives. At least not this time.

Click here for: Nervous Wrecks – Driving In Romania: Terror On The Way To Transylvania (Part One)