When Johann started from Katzenloch in the early spring, he had already thought about what he was leaving behind. He wasn’t leaving much, but still that was his birthplace and of the three blonde children who were sitting under thick blankets, inside the horse carts that drifted through the ravines. At night the string of horse carts, cattle and other domestic animals would make a halt and Johann together with his fellow men would discuss about the place where they would stop. Nobody knew that place but they all knew what they were seeking. Almost everyone had left his village and many joined on the way, hoping if not for a better life, at least for a different one. In 1488, when Honterus registered the community of Katzendorf with 92 households, 5 shepherds, one school, one mill and two poor people, the village had been founded over two centuries before, and the descendents of the three blonde children who settled there at the end of spring had built many houses and had worked hard for the heart of their community – the fortified church. 

The Church

Part of the vast royal land and of the seat of Rupea, the church of Caţa was built around the half of the 13th century, after a basilica plan with three naves. Its physiognomy dramatically changed after the western tower had collapsed at the end of the 13th century. The Romanesque portal and the roof of the central nave were also destroyed back then. The pieces that could be recuperated were added to the new façade of the church. 

The basilica with a square choir and a semicircular apse had the central nave separated from the lateral ones by semicircular archways. The western part of the basilica ended with a massive belfry tower which was flanked by the aisles. 

The shape of the choir together with the lateral windows on the superior part of the walls and also with south entrance made for the priest, belong to the Romanesque period. Later, in the 19th century, the south entrance provided access to the vestry. At the beginning of the 15th century, probably when the church was fortified, the semicircular shape of the choir was turned into a pentagonal one, a fact which led to the emergence of a cross vault with five penetrations, each of the ribs being supported by semicircular colonettes. The windows from the south wall were cut in the shape of a pointed arch, the only exception being the one from the axle which kept a circular shape. On the northeast side a window was turned into a door in order to provide access to the organ loft above the altar. The choir opens towards the nave through a semicircular chancel arch. 

The central nave has on each side three twin Romanesque windows made of archivolts.

The transformations mentioned above modified the nave whose initial gothic ribbed vault ceiling supported by consoles lasted until the belfry tower collapsed in 1894, when the flat ceiling was reintroduced. Some of the gothic keystones were integrated into the western façade which, on that occasion, also received a simple portal and a covered saddle-shaped portico. Since the belfry tower wasn’t rebuilt, a platform was placed above the ground floor, the access to it being provided by the stairs from the end of the aisles, stairs which also facilitated the access to the side wooden galleries built in 1711. 

The furniture dates from the 19th century, the altar is from 1813, the pulpit from 1864 and the organ from 1803. It is possible that the traces of crosses inscribed in identifiable circles result from a sanctification of the church made by a bishop. The aisles open towards the exterior through two symmetric semicircular portals. 

The Fortification

The fortification of the church was made during the 15th century and a second precinct was added two centuries later. Both precincts have an irregular polygonal path and right before the gate tower, they form a stone and brick wall of reduced height with the purpose of protecting the center of the fortification from the firing artillery – this structure is also known as a Zwinger. The initial precinct had four towers and the walls between them were covered with tiles and had a height of approximately eight meters. Above the gate, the tower maintained the wooden walk passage outside the console. In the past, the access to the superior levels was made via mobile stairs. From the courtyard one would get to the second level of the towers, the eastern one having a gothic stone frame on top. Each floor was provided with high loopholes, narrow at the exterior and wider in the interior. The defense corridor is impressive, functioning as a console above the four levels of the northern tower. Since the southern tower was demolished, the eastern one is the only provided with machicolations.

The second curtain wall appeared as a result of the disaster made by a Tartar raid in 1658, when the whole village burned almost completely. The precinct included a tower at the north side and another one at the southeast side, the latter one still standing and being known as the priest’s tower, probably a retreat for the family of Andreas Lang, as it is indicated by the Latin inscription painted on the tower with red and blue, and dating back to 1676. The rooms inside could be heated by a chimney that passes through them. Towards the exterior, the tower opened through crenels which could be closed, the forth level being provided with machicolations and a walk passage under the pyramidal roof. On one of the exterior niches can be found a second inscription written in German and Latin asking God for mercy to his servants and blessing the ones who think of war during peacetime and think of peace during wartime. From the large exterior curtain wall, only the south west one stands today.