Find a location
DUPUS/TOBSDORF
Even after so much time ever since they had settled on the royal land, the border continued to be a reason for starting trials between people of the same nation. It was a hard year full of a chain of events: the Moldavian feudal lords rebelled against the Hungarian reign, Bogdan the voivode of Maramureș dismounted east from the Carpathians and founded a state with the capital at Baia, Nicolae Alexandru refused to admit the suzerainty of King Ludovic I. And now, together with the old people from the village I, judge Henning, was called by the Seat of Mediaș to judge a border dispute between the fellow men from Velț and Bazna. It was 1359.
Mentioned in 1268 with the name of Tobiasfalva and as a subjugated commune, the settlement which had Saint Thobias as a patron will appear in other documents only in 1359, but with another statute. It was now a free commune of the Seat of Mediaș. The church which was built in the center of the settlement is not precisely dated. The inscription of the year 1254 on the west side mentions the date of the fortification. The nave and choir of the hall church have the same height. The latter has kept the penetration vault with ribs terracotta ribs arranged in a star shape. The light enters here through two broken arch windows. A tabernacle representing Vir Dolorum was placed on the north side of the choir. The piece is similar to the ones in Ighișu Nou and Valea Viilor. On the same side, the vestry door was opened a century later. The year 1610 was inscribed on the door. The stalls are also worth mentioning, with decorations made in the 16th century. The nave which is separated from the choir through an ogival chancel arch, has the same vaulting system, but without ribs. A pneumatic organ made by Georg Wachsmann was placed on the west loft in 1731.
The church ended to the west with a belfry under which the entrance was made. It collapsed in 1732 down to the second level; the actual wooden belfry was built in 1902. Nowadays, the access is made through the south side, through a portal with Renaissance influences.
The fortification of the church started in the 16th century with a simple oval curtain wall, without bastions. It was dismantled in the early 20th century in order to build the neighboring school. The church was also fortified by raising a defense level over the nave and choir. On the outside this level was supported by buttresses united by arcades under which the machicolations could be found. The parapet is pierced by crenels. The access here was made on the north side through a spiral staircase.
The fact that the church existed here before the year inscribed on the west wall is sustained by one of the three gate towers inscribed with 1491.
One of the most interesting polyptych altars from Transylvania is from Dupuș. Its uniqueness lies in the mixture of themes from the Old and New Testament. It was built from priest Johann Welther in 1720, but the original triptych piece with double side panels dates from 1522, year inscribed on a note of a character from The Crowning with Thorns. The scenes represented on the main panels and the visible ones when the altar is closed belong to the Passion of Christ: Jesus on the Mount of Olives, The Judgement of Pilate, The Carrying of the Cross, The Flagellation, The Crowning with Thorns, The Preparation of the Cross, The Crucifixion and The Resurrection. The other panels represent The Last Supper and scenes from the Old Testament. The Placing in the Sepulchre was painted on the predella of the altar.

Fortified Churches Multimedia CD - 15 EUR
Over 400 images revealing 44 saxon villages from Transylvania and their Fortified Churches, historical facts and architectural information, 19 local legends, an interactive map of the site, explicit hand-made drawings on how were the churches made, a see-through section ; all this toghether with a large, easy-to-use dictionary which will accurately explain all the specific or not so well-known terms you will come upon. Available in 7 languages: Romanian, German, English, Hungarian, French, Spanish, Catalan















