Băgaciu / Bogeschdorf / Szászbogács

The fortified church is located on the main street of the village. In the village center a church existed around 1420, which was secured with a ring wall, a gate tower, and three defence towers in the course of the 15th century. Beside the gate tower, the north-eastern tower has also been preserved until today. At the end of the 15th century the church was enlarged with a bell tower, which shows a seven-fold staggered funnel-shaped portal. Shortly afterwards the church was fortified. Above the hall of the church and above the bell tower a defence level rests on buttresses. In the 18th and 19th century it was gradually removed, but the bell tower was rebuilt in 1973. The existing pew in the chancel dated 1533, is one of the most valuable of its kind in Transylvania.

Place and surroundings

Regardless of the time in which the fortress is looked at, in the fresh morning light, under the bright sunlight in the middle of the day or in the soft fog of dusk, its walls seem to have been made of history and legends. Built on the location of an old basilica, the church impresses due to its dimensions and rich ornamentation. Both west and south portals adorned with high quality stone carvings are counted among the best-made stone art works in Transylvania. Fragments of the once lush mural paintings inside the church, a representation of the Apocalypse, were revealed on the northern wall. An organ built in 1804 by Samuel Metz rests on its wooden gallery. Impressive are the eroded drolleries on the chancel, strange masks that have been interpreted both as saints and as demons.