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BIERTAN |
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| Following the route west from Sighisoara along the main DN14, after
26km there's a turning at Saros pe Târnave which leads to the village of
BIERTAN (Birthälm); if you are travelling by train, you'll need to get
off at Medias to catch a local bus to Biertan. The best approach to the
village, however, is the four-hour hike through fields and wooded ridges
from Brateiu (Pretai), the first rail halt east of Medias, via the tiny
villages of Atel (Hetzeldorf) and Dupus (Tobsdorf), both with fortified
churches; Atel has a Gastehaus (tel 069/204 865, ext 114; under $6)
should you want to stop over. Biertan itself contains the best known of
all the Saxon fortified churches, set high on a hill within two and a
half rings of walls linked by a splendid covered staircase. Completed as
late as 1516, and recently restored and added to UNESCO's World Heritage
List, this was the seat of the Lutheran bishops from 1572 to 1867, and
their fine gravestones can be seen inside the Bishops' Tower. Other
notable features are the altarpiece (a classic polyptych; 1483-1515),
the sacristy door (with no fewer than nineteen locks; 1515), and a room
where couples wanting to divorce were supposedly shut up together for
two weeks. There's excellent accommodation in the Gastehaus (under $6)
between the church walls: contact Martin Ohnweiler (tel 069/214 877) or
the Pfarrhaus (tel 069/204 867). Home-made cheese can be bought at the
private dairy ( laptarie ) on the Copsa Mare road, while good white wine
costs next to nothing at the factory set back from the Richis road. The
village is the site of the Sachsentreffen or Saxon Meeting, when many
Saxons return from Germany to meet up, drink and dance, held on the
second Saturday of September. |
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