Biertan Fortified Church | |
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Biserica fortificată din Biertan | |
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Religion | |
Affiliation | Lutheran |
Location | |
Location | Biertan, Sibiu County Romania |
Geographic coordinates | 46°08′07″N 24°31′17″E / 46.135198°N 24.521323°E |
Architecture | |
Type | Fortified church |
Style | Gothic |
Groundbreaking | 1486 |
Completed | 1524 |
Official name: Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania | |
Type | Cultural |
Criteria | iv |
Designated | 1993 (17th session) 1999 (23rd session – Extension) |
Reference no. | 596 |
State Party | Romania |
Region | Europe and North America |
Official name: Historic monuments in Sibiu County | |
Type | architectural |
Reference no. | LMI Code: SB-II-a-A-12328 |
The Biertan fortified church (Romanian: Biserica fortificată din Biertan; German: Kirchenburg von Birthälm) is a Lutheran fortified church in Biertan (German: Birthälm), Sibiu County, in the Transylvania region of Romania. It was built by the ethnic German Transylvanian Saxon community at a time when the area belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary. Briefly Roman Catholic, it became Evangelical Lutheran following the Reformation. Together with the surrounding village, the church forms part of the villages with fortified churches in Transylvania UNESCO World Heritage Site.