This excerpt from a document issued on the 21st of June 1359 acknowledges that the people of Velt had to turn over the forest to the village of Bazna.

The German name of the village was at one point in time Woelz, coming from the Hungarian word for valley – voelgy. In Hungarian the village’s name was actually quite similar, be it either Volc or Woelc. At present there are no Saxons to speak its name as none live here anymore and the church is unfortunately half in ruins.

The church

The single-nave late gothic church was erected in the centre of the village in the 15th century. The big choir is enclosed on three sides towards the east and has an unexpectedly tall chancel arch towards the west. The sacred space is lit by three windows that used to have pointed arches. Only the windows on the southern wall preserve their pointed arch, while the ones on the northern wall no longer exist at all. The 2 meter high by 1.5 meter wide doorway in the west wall has been sealed up. The only entrance into the church now is via the southern doorway which has a pointed arch underlined with lime mortar.

The fortification

The mantle walls forming an oval precinct were initially taller than they are today. The steep banks of the river provide the only natural means of defense so in order to be effective the walls had to be at least 5 meters tall. It is speculated that the walls had battlements on their upper part in addition to a wall passage, though nothing has been preserved.

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