The fortified church in Bazna
The village of Bazna (“Baaßen” in German and “Bázna” in Hungarian) is technically a commune comprised of three villages: Bazna, Boian and Velt. Settled by Saxons in the 13th century, the land was great not only for agriculture but also gave forth natural gas and springs of water containing salt and iodine.
The fortified church you’re about to see in my photographs was built in the 15th century. A hundred years or so later, it gained the surrounding fortified walls and defense tower. You’ll find an oddity in that tower: it’s also a bell tower and it has three bells made sometime between the 14-15th century. That’s not something often seen in Transilvania, where most of the bells were melted to make weapons during WWI.
The church has a caretaker and is well-maintained, which is more (much more) than can be said for most of the other fortified churches in Transilvania.
Enjoy the photographs! I took them in April of 2010.
An old Saxon fortified church dating back to 1504, in the village of Bazna, Transilvania, Romania
bazna
fortified church