Transylvania is one of the regions that has a lot of medieval cities, with castles, churches and very old houses. In a week you can visit 20 or even more such architectural beauties you don't see anywhere else. My goal is to visit them all and pin every single place on our map and together with @gabrielatravels, who's working on it relentlessly too, we're going to do it! 😁💪
Visiting such a place for me is like a travel back in time as I am always wondering what life must have been for those living there centuries ago.
Today I'm going to take you to the peasant fortress of Slimnic, which can be found in a small village in Sibiu county. Actually it is a short drive from Sibiu, as you can see on the map below.
I know @gabrielatravels has been there already as I saw her pin earlier, when I wanted to get my code and I'm going to read her post, after I post mine (to not let myself influenced by hers, but ssshh, don't tell her 😂).
The fortress is on the top of the hill, on the right side of the road as you come from Sibiu and can be spotted from far. There's a parking lot available for whoever wants to visit, down next to the road.
On the right, there's the evangelical church, which we could not visit because it was closed. This was the closest I could get to it and was g;ad to be able to take this photo, although the church was in a deplorable state.
This was the priest's residence up until four years ago, a local told us.
The old lady was waiting in front of the closed church door, for the priest to arrive but he didn't. As I understood, the priest is coming from another location on Sundays to hold the service. This is what happens in very small villages, where there are only a handful people of a certain religion. The residence is now uninhabited, which will lead to decay eventually.
The road to the fortress was under construction at the time of our visit and I hope it will be finished by the end of the tourist season, or even sooner, so cars can go up to the entrance.
Those of you who are used to elevators and escalators, may want to think twice if you want to visit the place as there's a small hill to climb.
And this is where things started to get interesting. When I saw this view, I knew the trip was worth it a 100 times and I did not even see the interior, which was even more beautiful.
This is the entrance to this heaven, through that tiny door.
There's a visiting schedule as all visits are supervised and there's also an entrance fee, which is rather symbolic as it's less than $1, it's around $0.75.
This is what is waiting for you once you pass the gate. It's a collection of folk objects of those days, less the sofa and the sink of course. it's an open air museum if you like.
Old postcards on the wall, testimony of the past.
Erected in the 14th century on the northern borderline of the Royal land, the castle was, due to its strategic position, an outpost of Sibiu and secured the main road to Mediaş. The oldest part of the mighty fortification is the bell tower with three levels, boasting a Gothic chapel on its ground floor. The western wall of the castle with crenels and loopholes was built in the 15th century. On the precincts the construction of a Gothic church was started, but most probably it was never completed. Still preserved are the southern wall of the main nave and the ogival arches to the side aisle. The machicoulis on the western wall of the church prove that the attic should have been used as defence platform. The entrance to the castle leads through a tunnel in the north-eastern side of the assembly and further on a tower opens access to the fountain’s outer bailey, an oval precinct partially collapsed in 1872.
The villager’s fortress was conquered in 1529 and 1706 and the attacks mainly destroyed a second ring wall, which also surrounded the parish church built in the 14th century. The interior space covered with ribbed lierne vault it is endowed with valuable 16th century Baroque pieces, as the altar from 1773, the pulpit, the pews, the font and the organ.
The villager’s fortress was left deserted in 1719 when the plague stroke and in the 19th century it was used as a source of material for other buildings of the community. source
This is a short history, what you need to know of the fortress.
These mugs, plates and carafes are symbolizing the kitchenware that was used back in those days.
An this is the spot where I knew how lucky I am to be able to see this beauty. I've been watching documentaries about similar ruins in Italy, visited by millions, paying heavy money to be able to see them and there I was, standing in front of this marvelous piece of historical fortress, in my own country.
I felt like I could have stood there all day, admiring the fortress.
I have an obsession for stones, bricks, old houses and ruins in general, so you can understand what I mean.
As always I was trying to imagine what life must have been for those taking refuge in this fortress, trying to save their family and livestock lives during attacks, because the fortress had a strategic purpose.
For me the green grass was a little extra, that made the place more enjoyable. It gave the feeling of "abandoned", it was like nature wanted to take over, which kind of was the case.
This was an interesting find and you're never going to guess what was the purpose of it. So let me tell you.
This is the reconciliation chamber. I suppose couples were locked in this room, which has no window by the way and only let out after reconciliation.
Last, but not least, the tower!
Again, if you're preferring the easy way, then this tower is not for you. There's no luxury here, no elevator, it's like life was back in those days when the tower was built.
Can you see what I mean? 😀
The rope you see on the photo is the rope of the bell and there's also a paper on the wall, asking (morons) people not to pull the rope.
After climbing the stairs or the ladder, this is your first reward for being brave. The view.
There are tree bells, this is the biggest, the other two are smaller. The person on duty has the obligation to ring the bell at 7am, then at 2pm and again in the evening at 7pm. It's a tradition kept alive and I suppose villagers are guiding themselves after the bell.
To have an idea about what I was talking about at the beginning of my post, here's the map of kirchenburgen in Siebenbürgen, or the map of fortified churches in Transylvania. I have no idea how many are there, but there are a lot. Some of these are in good conditions, while others are ruins like Stolczenburg or the peasant fortress of Slimnic. This means as many opportunities for us.
I hope you liked this virtual journey and I suggest you to not miss this wonderful place if you're in that area.
Absolutely! We'll work together on this and especially on adding more pins on the map! 😁
Deal! 😁
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Hiya, @ybanezkim26 here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Daily Travel Digest #1567.
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Thank you so much @ybanezkim26 ❤️
You're welcome!
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Wow!!! Very beautiful place
It is indeed. Worth visiting.
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STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
fucking awesome!