The church

The Romanesque church was built around 1270 and is surrounded by a mantle wall at the bottom of the hill. Initially, the church had three naves, an apse for the altar, and a five-storey bell tower. The late Romanesque doorway has similar decorations to those in Avrig, Sacadate and Toacla. All these building sites were influenced by the concurrent building of the great Alba-Iulia cathedral that drew master masons from Austria and the German territories.

Apparently those masons who could no longer find work in Alba-Iulia came with their apprentices to earn their pay at Homorod. This is most likely the reason for the resemblance between the great doorway here and the one in St. Stephen's Dom in Vienna.

The fortification



The church is surrounded by two mantle walls. The three-storey gate tower is equipped with a portcullis and stands at the crossing point of the two mantle walls. The inner precinct also has two square-plan towers with three floors each and a fortified house in the western section. The walls themselves are 7 to 8 meters high. The first three meters are made of stone and are part of the old ruins. The remaining 4-5 meters were later constructed in brick with one layer in stone. The second precinct has two towers. The pentagonal one in the south-west section has been turned into a pavilion of the parish courtyard while the south-west one is discernable only by it lower floors. Additionally, there is a new school in the north-eastern section of the courtyard.

You can find more information about this church and many others on this CD dedicated to the fortified churches in Transylvania.