In the document first acknowledging the village, several priests of the Superior Council of Kosd including a certain Nikolaus of Jacobsdorf, sue the bishop of Alba-Iulia to protest a 10% tax on their income to the bishopric. A registry from around 1500 tells of Iacobeni including 75 households, one mill, one school, three paupers and two abandoned courtyards. Considering that the average village had 40 households at that time, Iacobeni had a large population when the church was built.

The church

The fact that the village is considerably old would indicate that there was an old church located on the site prior to the construction of the gothic church. This old church was most likely destroyed during the Great Tatar Invasion. The single nave gothic church was built in the 14th century. It has a pointed chancel arch that separates the choir from the apse. Initially the choir and the nave had the same height, but that changed when a penetration barrel vault with terracotta ribs was built over the nave. The choir, on the other hand, has a cross vault and the apse has a rudimentary penetration vault, indicating its old age.

The fortification

The precinct has an irregular shape and is surrounded by mantle walls supported from the outside by buttresses. The gate tower has two floors, a wall passage, and a portcullis protecting the gate. A bastion watched over the precinct on the northern side and was later transformed into a house for the keeper of the stronghold. There was once a tower on the southeast as well, but it has been demolished. The tower standing at the bottom of the hill is still preserved.

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