Recently a new app was launched, which tells the story about the fortified churches in Transylvania in Romania and give precise directions about location, opening times etc.
Transylvania or Siebenbürgen may be packed with ghastly vampires, ghosts and werewolfs. But it is also a very beautiful corner of Europe with an amazing history. One of the more unusual sights is the fortified churches of which more than 150 have been preserved. Complete with defensive towers, battle walks, loopholes and even latrines, they witness to the long history of violence in the region and well worth a visit. It might be mentioned that the fortified churches were designated as World Heritage in 1993.
Since the Middle Ages, the population of the region was a mixture of ethnic Romanians (historically known as Vlachs), Hungarians, Germans (also known as Saxons), Bulgarians, Armenians, Jews and Roma (also known as Gypsies or “tatars”). Of course this mix reflects the 1000-year long history of warring between the different ethnic groups and their respective rulers.
Nowadays, however, the fighting is not so much about and in between linguistic and/or religious barriers (Catholics, Orthodox, Protestant and Muslim groups) but about stopping the migration from the region though attracting tourists and generating jobs and new income.
Recently a new app was launched, which tells the story about the fortified churches and give precise directions about location, opening times etc. The name of the app is “The landscape of Saxon Fortified Churches in Transylvania” and may be downloaded from iTunes. All the churches belong to the Evangelical Church of Romania, basically an Evangelical Lutheran Church, where services are still celebrated in German.