Transylvania village sites with fortified churches

I. IDENTIFICATION OF THE ASSET
II. JUSTIFICATION FOR INSCRIPTION
III. DESCRIPTION
I. IDENTIFICATION OF THE ASSET
           a. Country: Romania
           b. Province sau region:
          - Alba county, Câlnic commune, Câlnic village
          - Brasov county, Prejmer commune, Prejmer village
          - Bunesti commune, Viscri village
          - Harghita county, Dârjiu commune, Dârjiu village
          - Mures county, Saschiz commune, Saschiz village
          - Sibiu county, Biertan commune, Biertan village
          - Valea Viilor commune, Valea Viilor village
          c. Name of the asset: Village sites with fortified churches of Transylvania
          d. Exact location on map and indication of geographical coordinates:
          - latitude: 45 43'21'' - 46 12'14'' - north,
          - longitude: 23 39'28'' - 25 46'32'' - east
Description - Introduction
II. JUSTIFICATION FOR INSCRIPTION
a. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
b. AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY
c. INSCRIPTION CRITERIA
a. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
          The nominates sites are settlements of the Saxon colonists of Transylvania. They are relevant for ethnology, the history of architecture (above all the defensive architecture), and the history of urbanism. At the same time their political, social and religious history is very interesting.
          The fortified churches, representing all the important types of this phenomenon of European architecture, constitute not only the ending point or a variation of it, but also architectural masterpieces, due to the way they have intermingled and adapted, over more than two centuries in use, the most complex and elaborate forms of the time. These accomplishments are not isolated; on the contrary, they are representative for a general phenomenon on a well defined geographical and historical area - the Saxon colonisations on the ancient "royal lands" of Transylvania.
          Over these two last centuries, the villages have preserved almost unaltered the original topographical structure of the site (street network, plot system); on this basis developed types of constructions specific of these sites, and that reflect the political, social, and religious history of their creators, the Saxons of Transylvania. Often they are integrated in a landscape structured by the traditional human activities in the places where they are found.
          The design of these sites - regular street network, with compact fronts alternating the façades and the high surrounding walls, located close to the church placed in the middle - contributes to the definition of the cultural pattern of this zone of multiethnic and multicultural Europe - Central Europe.
Statement of signifiance - Inscription criteria - Introducere
b. AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGRITY:
           The authenticity of construction patterns, materials and procedures is certified by the restructuring and conservation works conducted over the last 25 years by specialised architects, and preceded by architecture studies, archaeological researches, etc. (part of which has already been published). The integration of the churches in the structure of the villages is demonstrated by means of historical maps, as the function of place of worship and reference place of the site/community has been preserved to this day (excepting Câlnic, where the church has turned into a cultural centre).
           The authenticity of the village structures - street network, plot system characteristics - is proved, at least for the last 250 years, by the historical maps - for instance, the military maps from 1769, ordered by Mary Theresa - that are attached to the documents worked out for each of the nominated sites.
           Although they have been inhabited, and, therefore, have evolved under the impact of the specific social and economic mutations, the density of the buildings that have a real ethnographic, historic and artistic value give the measure not only of the formal authenticity, but also of the historic substance and the architectural outlook. With a few exceptions, mentioned in the dossier of each site, the original functions of the building have been preserved. These values are documented by the results of the topographical inventory undertaken in these sites between 1992 and 1995. The outstanding inventoried buildings, built between the middle of the 18th century and the end of the 19th century, are marked on the map representing the protected zone - at item 1.e. of each dossier - and on the map 1/5000, having resulted from the inventory.
          The way these buildings reflect the relationships, the social, religious and ethnic organisation, as well as their exemplary evolutive nature are documented by the results of the inventory: building descriptions, photographs, site descriptions, summarised in the 3rd chapter of the dossier of each site.
Statement of signifiance - Autenticity - Introduction
c. INSCRIPTION CRITERIA
           The criteria under which the seven properties are proposed for inscription on the World Heritage List (extension of the "Biertan Site" admitted on the list in 1993) are criteria II, III, IV, V of the "Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, February 1997.
Criterion III - Criterion IV - Criterion V
CRITERION II. The constructive and defensive achievements of the Transylvanian Saxons have influenced the neighbouring cultural regions - first of all the enslaved Saxon villages, that have tried to imitate as much as possible the defensive and organisational structures of the free communities; this influence has reached the Szecklers (churches with precincts bearing simple defence structures, the best example being Dârjiu), as well as the Romanians. All that has changed not only the aspect of the Romanian districts of Saxon villages, but also that of the Romanian villages of the Saxon colonisation zone, in the house fronts, their decoration, or the plot system (for instance, Rasinari).
Criterion II - Criterion IV - Criterion V - Introduction
CRITERION III. The nominated sites, landmarks of the Transylvanian sites colonised by the Saxons, make up a "coherent whole, a unity bearing historic relevance, that has a specific equilibrium and nature, comprising at the same time space structures, buildings and traces of human activities structuring the surroundings". They represent a constructive phenomenon relevant for the historical, legal, religious and social conditions of their creators; it is a culture and civilisation weakened by the Saxons' emigration to Germany and Austria, as their exodus began in the 1970s, and accelerated in the 1990s.
Criterion II - Criterion III - Criterion V - Introduction
CRITERION IV. The fortified churches are outstanding as a group. Nowhere in the world can one find within such a narrow space so many fortified churches. That proves that this cultural phenomenon had spread all over this geographical and ethnic area. They constitute an exceptional work of architecture, due to the wide range of defensive architecture patterns from the late European Middle Ages. While in Western and Southern Europe certain defensive patterns applied to churches are characteristic of certain territories or country (for instance, the fortified churches in France and in the northern countries, the churches with fortified precinct in Germany, and in Austria), one finds in Transylvania the presence, in the narrow space already mentioned, three main types of church fortification:
-the fortified precinct church (for instance, Prejmer), the fortified church (for instance, Saschiz) or the fortress - church (Valea Viilor as example of complexity). It is worth mentioning that these fortifications are adapted reconstructions of earlier monuments. In most cases the fortification of the entire range of structures has resulted in transformations. Short Romanesque basilicas without a tower or with a west tower, and late Gothic churches with a single nave have undergone alterations. Sometimes these fortifications have created monuments with a double function - sacred and defensive, perfectly balanced from the point of view of form and function (for instance, Saschiz, Cloasterf, etc.).
           These achievements of the defensive architecture are added to the intrinsic worth of the churches revealing the spread of certain architectural styles, from Roman art to the late Gothic. The churches have preserved precious inner elements: altars at Prejmer (about 1450), mural painting fragments (Dârjiu), furniture from the 16th century (Prejmer, Saschiz, Valea Viilor). The fortified mansion of a nobleman is itself authentic and valuable by its architecture.
Criterion II - Criterion III - Criterion IV - Introduction
CRITERION V.
           The regular street network, though sometimes influenced by the relief, is characteristic in the nominated sites; most of them are developed along a street or a vast median space, sometimes doubled by secondary axes (for instance, Câlnic, Valea Viilor, Biertan, Viscri). Other less frequent types of village develop according to a place emerged as a result of the church fortification (Prejmer).
           The protected zone - the historic core - has preserved the narrow long pieces of land attested by documents and researches, as well as the way in which that piece of land is organised: usually the house walls bearing pinions face the street, while the annexes are lined in a row. At the same time, it is possible to rebuild historically the plot system of the cultivated lands (for instance, Viscri), as the toponyms designating the ancient properties have been preserved in the oral tradition.
           The tightness, typical of these sites, has also been preserved: continuous rows of houses with half buried basements and high ground floors, with few openings and pinion, and surrounding walls at the height of the façade, sometimes bearing the same decoration.
           The location of public buildings has remained around the fortified church. Some of them are still functioning: the presbytery or the parishioner's lodgings, the school and the schoolmaster's house, either in the schoolyard, or close by, the mayoralty and ceremony hall, the barn. The number of buildings and their architectural worth is remarkable for all the nominated sites.
           In the Saxon sites that are situated on the "royal lands", and above all in the nominated sites, it is likely to find two types of dwellings conserved almost intact. At the same time, the variety of adornment patterns, and certain important changes of the pattern range mark their evolution in time.
           The sites have preserved until the 1980s their nature of multiethnic settlements, with ethnic districts which still exist.
           The specific details justifying these criteria are mentioned in the 2nd chapter (item d.) of the dossier of each site.
Identification of the site - Justification for inscription - Introduction
III. DESCRIPTION
           The Saxon colonisation area on the ancient royal lands (fundus regius) of Transylvania is found in a rather narrow zone along the Carpathian arch, in south-west and south Transylvania. Excepting the flat country of Bârsa, it is a zone with moderately high mounds, crossed by valleys almost parallel to some streams, river tributaries delimiting the countries they name (Altland - the Olt Country, Kokelgebiet - the Târnave Depression, Burzenland - crossed by the Bârsa stream).
           The Saxon colonies existing in this region (whose geographical location and historical road network ensuring direct links clearly attest the scheme and role of this colonisation) were from the very beginning sacked successively (either by the migration populations - the Mongols -, or by strong, dangerous neighbours - the Turks). That danger and the defence methods brought from the place of origin - taking refuge in a protected zone in order to save one's life and goods, by deserting the colony and leaving it to the invaders - entailed, after an evolution of about two centuries, the refinement of the defence solution known also in other regions of Europe - the church fortification.