- Duration: 7 Days
- Location: Departure from Cluj-Napoca
- Available Seat: Please contact us!
- Price: 565 €/person
The Transylvanian Saxons are having their origins in the region of the Rhine and the Mosela (Luxembourg – Saxonia), where their name comes from. They were first sent to form colonies in Transylvania at the beginning of the 12th century and to set up rich villages and towns that would bring consistent revenues to the Hungarian rulers. But the Tartar invasion of 1241 forced them to turn their churches into real fortresses.
The churches are true Gothic-style works of art and testimony of the Christian spirituality. As both religious and military edifices, the fortified churches have unique construction mechanisms which include additional walls, water ditches, counter pillars, bastions, towers, withdrawal galleries and provision chambers.
The entire region of Southern Transylvania abounds in fortified churches and medieval towns and cities. There are approximately 150 villages which preserve such monuments. Seven of them have been named UNESCO world heritage sites.
Day 1
Cluj-Napoca
Arrival at the international airport of Cluj-Napoca. Depending on the arrival time, free time for city tour: Saint Michael’s Church (built in the 14th century in a Gothic style), The Orthodox Cathedral, The National Theatre, Palace of Justice, Iuliu Maniu street (also known as The Street in the Mirror), the Central Park.
Welcome dinner and overnight in a 3* hotel.
Day 2
Cluj-Napoca – Iernut –Bazna – Mosna – Biertan – Medias
Breakfast. Departure to Medias region. Visit the church Bazna, situated in the SPA resort town of Bazna. Built in the 14th century, the church has two defensive levels above/on the church choir and is surrounded by a defensive wall with three towers. Lunch in a restaurant.
During the 15th century, the prosperous commune of Mosna built one of the biggest and most beautiful hall churches of the Tarnave Valley. The construction was supervised by the famous master mason Andreas Lapicida.
Visit the town with the monumental fortress Biertan, which was the residence of the bishop of the Lutheran Church of Transylvania for 300 years. The masterpiece of the beautiful late Gothic hall church is a large altarpiece in triptych form.
Arrival to Medias town for evening visits (the defense towers built in the 16th century, St. Margaret’s Church – the Gothic basilica, and the Franciscan Monastery), dinner and overnight in a 3* hotel.
Day 3
Medias – Valea Viilor – Slimnic – Calnic – Cisnadioara – Sibiu
Breakfast. Departure to Sibiu region. Visit the Gothic church in Valea Viilor surrounded by an oval precinct featuring 7-8 meters high mantle walls. The church itself is strongly fortified with defensive levels and the choir was turned into a massive defensive tower.
Continue with the visit of the Slimnic peasant fortress, built in the 15th century with high walls of bricks. The Gothic church was never finished.
The next visit is at the fortified church in Calnic. The stronghold with the impressive keep was once the residence of the lords of Calnic. The fortress is now a center for cultural and scientific events and has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The fortified church Cisnadioara on the hill has preserved its original Romanesque style features from the 13th century until today. The curtain wall around the basilica was once equipped with two towers, a reinforced wall passage and crenels.
Arrival in Sibiu. Lunch in a restaurant. City tour of Sibiu, the most representative city of the Transylvanian Saxon civilization. Dinner and overnight in a 3* hotel.
Day 4
Sibiu – Hosman – Carta – Fagaras – Rasnov – Brasov
Breakfast. Departure to Brasov region. Stop in Hosman and visit the fortified church dominated by the massive three-storey gate tower equipped with a portcullis. The Romanesque portal of the church is decorated with chimeras, human heads and bats heads.
Carta holds the ruins of the easternmost Cistercian abbey of Europe. The only parts of the abbey church which have been preserved are the western façade of the church with its Gothic portal and the choir.
Arrival in Fagaras. Visit the citadel built at the beginning of the 14th century. After being used by the Communist State as a prison for opponents and dissidents, the castle has been restored and currently is used as a museum and library. Lunch in restaurant.
In Rasnov visit the citadel built at the beginning of the 13th century by the Teutonic Knight and just once conquered in its history, in 1600, by Gabriel Bathory.
Arrival in Brasov city. Tour of the city developed by the Saxons around the main square and around St. Mary’s Church, gradually becoming a city of merchants and craftsmen. Its girdle of natural fortifications made Brasov one of the most secure medieval cities of Transylvania. Visit the historical centre: The Black Church (dating from 1477, acquires the name after being blackened by smoke from the 1689 great fire), The Council Square, The Rope Street, Catherine’s Gate. In the evening, have a walk on Tampa Mountain for a great view over the city and its surroundings.
Dinner and overnight in a 3* hotel.
Day 5
Brasov – Prejmer – Harman – Viscri – Saschiz – Sighisoara
Breakfast. Visit the extremely well fortified church-fortress of Prejmer, with 12 m high mantle walls, where each family had a larder to use and protect. The most valuable artifact of the Cistercian Gothic style church is a folding tryptichaltar.
Visit the well-fortified stronghold of Harman, similar to the one of Prejmer, built around the fairly heterogeneous church. Frescos showing westerns and Byzantine influences have been preserved on the walls of one of the towers on the eastern side of the church.
Viscri village hosts one of the most impressive fortified churches in Transylvania. The church includes a Romanesque chapel built by the Szekely people before the German colonization. The church tower was once the keep of the lords of Viscri.
Arrival in Saschiz. Lunch in a traditional pension. Visit the impressive Gothic fortified church of Saschiz, watched over by a defense and bell tower resembling the famous tower of Sighisoara. The church is part of the UNESCO Patrimony.
The stronghold on the hill next to the village was built during the 14th century.
Continue to Sighisoara town, the most beautiful and all-embracing urban Romanian city, one of the Europe’s few inhabited fortress-towns. Visit the medieval city.
Dinner and overnight in 3* hotel.
Day 6
Sighisoara – Targu-Mures – Cluj-Napoca
Breakfast. Departure to Cluj-Napoca. Stop in Targu-Mures town and visit the star-shaped fortress built in the 15th century, the Evangelical Church (the city’s oldest building), the Palace of Culture conceived in Secessionist style and famous for “The Hall of Mirrors”. Lunch in a restaurant.
Arrival in Cluj-Napoca. Farewell dinner and overnight in a 3* hotel.
Day 7
Cluj-Napoca
Breakfast. Last visits and shopping. Transfer to the airport. Departure.
HIGHLIGHTS
* Cluj-Napoca city
* Bazna fortified church
* Mosna hall church
* Biertan fortified church
* Medias medieval town
* Valea Viilor gothic church
* Slimnic peasant church
* Sibiu medieval city
* Hosman fortified church
* Carta abbey church
* Fagaras citadel
* Rasnov citadel
* Brasov city
* Prejmer and Harman strongholds
* Viscri fortified church
* Saschiz church and hilltop citadel
* Sighisoara medieval citadel
* Targu-Mures city
PRICE:
Organized groups: 565 €/person
Special! Private tour: 1030 €/person
*157 €/person SGL Supplement
Included:
- Accommodation: 6 nights in 3* hotels
- Full board (check-in with dinner and check-out with breakfast)
- All transport and round transfers
- Fuel, road and parking taxes
- Entry tickets for the visits in the program
- English speaking attested guide
- Telephonic emergency call and support 24/7
Not included:
- Air tickets
- Taxes for cameras and filming
- Driver for the private tour
- Drinks off the boarding
- Tips
NOTE:
- The program in the present form is available if Day 1 is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday according to the opening hours of some visits or activities in the tour. If Day 1 differs, they will be replaced or cancel.
- Rates do not apply during the main holidays (Easter, Christmas and New Year) and during great events (festivals, concerts, fairs).
