Transylvania
Standing proud in the whisper-quiet village of Valea Viilor is an 18th-century church with weighty protective walls. It’s necessary to call a caretaker to get inside (phone number posted outside). Once in, you can climb stairs to walk the perimeter of the old walls and peep at the church’s fine 17th-century altar.
It’s a 14km drive southwest from Mediaș.
20.64 MILES
Sibiu's Gothic centrepiece rises more than 73m over the old town. Inside, marvel at ghoulish stone skeletons, 17th-century tombs and the largest organ in…
Zosim Oancea Glass Icons Museum
28.09 MILES
This museum of painted icons, named after the priest who collected them, is a true hidden gem. Unlike the sombre wooden icons you’ll see elsewhere in…
26.41 MILES
Sighişoara's delightful medieval buildings are enclosed within its citadel, a Unesco-listed complex of protective walls and watchtowers. Walking in the…
23.95 MILES
Five kilometres from central Sibiu, this is Europe's largest open-air ethnographic museum, where churches, mills and traditional homes number among 400…
20.71 MILES
Brukenthal Palace is worth visiting as much for its resplendent period furnishings as for the European art within. Duck beneath the Music Room’s…
26.43 MILES
Vlad Ţepeş (aka Dracula) was reputedly born in this house in 1431 and lived here until the age of four. It's now a decent restaurant, but for a small…
20.61 MILES
The former Council Tower links Piaţa Mare with its smaller sister square, Piaţa Mică. First built in the 13th century, and refortified in the 16th, it has…
12.22 MILES
Biertan’s late-Gothic church, ringed by concentric walls and flanked by towers, is among the largest and most impressive in Transylvania. The triple-naved…
5.93 MILES
One of the finest fortifications in the region around Mediaș, Moşna’s 14th-century church was rebuilt over subsequent centuries, with impressive defence…
6.68 MILES
The Gothic spire above Mediaș sprouts from 1488-built St Margaret's Church, which guards 15th-century frescoes and Romania’s second-largest collection of…
7.85 MILES
In September 2016 the ribbon was cut on fresh restoration works in Alma Vii, and this charismatic village and centrepiece fortified church have never…
8.2 MILES
The fairy-tale fortification in Bazna, with hefty wooden gates and portcullises, encloses a 14th-century Gothic church. Treasures include a baroque altar…
12.22 MILES
Biertan’s late-Gothic church, ringed by concentric walls and flanked by towers, is among the largest and most impressive in Transylvania. The triple-naved…
13.74 MILES
When we passed through, this early-15th-century fortified church was in need of a revamp, with a rusty clock face peeling from its tower and birds…
20.44 MILES
This so-called museum is a veritable graveyard of ancient steam trains. South of the train station; it’s across the tracks, 400m south.
20.51 MILES
This Roman Catholic church and monastery was built in stages across the 15th to 18th centuries. Its white and gold baroque splendour is usually enclosed…