The pleasant autumn days inspire us to go for a walk, and in Transylvania, we will always find new routes and objectives to include in our list of favorites. One of these routes can start right from Valea Verde, in the village of Cund, Mureș county.
The road of fortifications includes towns like Mureș, Moșna, Dumbrăveni, and Bazna. Let’s hit the road, after a delicious breakfast served at Valea Verde!
Our route starts from Dumbrăveni, located 10 km from Valea Verde Retreat. Dumbrăveni is documented from 1332 under the name of Ebes. The town of Dumbrăveni boasts a number of monuments that you can admire along this route. Apaffy Castle was built in the 16th century by the Apaffy family, and today it houses a museum dedicated to the Armenians of Transylvania. Also in Dumbrăveni, you will find the Armenian-Catholic Church, built in the 18th century. The building is built in the Baroque style, decorated with decorations and statues signed by Simon Hoffmayer, one of the most known Transylvanian sculptors of the 18th century.
Our route continues to Dârlos, a town located 15 km from Dumbrăveni, 4 km from Mediaș, and 25 km from Valea Verde Retreat. In Dârlos we can visit the Evangelical Church, a work built in the first part of the 15th century. The church is built in the late Gothic style, with a single nave and no tower. Remarkable are the window frames, richly laced, and the fragments of mural painting on the facades of the choir: scenes from the passions of Jesus and St. Christopher, constructed on a large scale (16th century, before 1544).
Bazna, our next stop, located 18 km from Dârlos, is a well-known spa center. Tourist attractions in this locality include a beautiful Evangelical-Lutheran Church, built in the second half of the 14th century, and a fortified peasant fortress with a church on the premises, dating from the 15th century.
Boian, located 5 km from Bazna, is part of the Bazna commune and was documented in 1309. The village is very picturesque, similar to our beautiful village, Cund. Here you will be able to admire the fortified Lutheran Church, built in 1404 and fortified 100 years later, in 1506.
We set off for Mediaș, located 20 km from Boian, where we can enjoy a few hours of outdoor relaxation. The historic center of the city of Mediaș appears as an open-air museum. The medieval monuments in the castle square are unique in Transylvania. Among the tourist attractions, we can mention the Tailors’ Tower, the Trumpeters’ Tower, the Bells’ Tower, the Schuller House (1588) the Forkesch Tower, the Stones’ Tower, and the Blacksmiths’ Tower. The Franciscan Architectural Complex includes the Franciscan church and monastery, which, around 1444, were built by the Franciscan order. The complex houses exhibits of great value: the treasure from Șeica Mică, the treasure from Panade, and various pieces of popular ceramics. Another important sight in Mediaș is the fortified Church of Saint Margaret, which holds a valuable ensemble of Gothic murals, and the tower has a clock that indicates the phases of the moon. This church is also important because the ruler of Wallachia, Vlad Țepeș, was imprisoned here in 1476, following a conflict with the king of Hungary, Matia Corvinul. It was also here that the Transylvanian prince Ștefan Báthory was elected king of Poland.
From Mediaș we can continue our route on the road of fortifications, a route that will be written about in the next article.
Fortifications Road route: Dumbrăveni – Dârlos – Blajel – Bazna – Boian – Mediaș – Cund, Valea Verde.
