Transylvania fortified churches face decay after collapse

Transylvania’s fortified churches are facing renewed concern over decay after the outer wall of a historic church in Mosna, central Romania, collapsed one night in June.

The Mosna church, visited by Britain's King Charles III in 1998 and attracting about 4,000 visitors a year, is one of more than 160 fortified churches built by the German-speaking Saxon minority in Transylvania. The collapse left bricks piled under plastic near a tower that had been propped up with wooden beams in 2017.

Mariana Rempler, described as the village's last woman from the Saxon minority, said she feared the church could lose the tower. Mayor Dumitru Nutu said more tourists had come to photograph the damaged wall since the collapse.

Cristian Cismaru, manager at the Fortified Churches Foundation, said about 80 fortified churches have undergone restoration in the past 35 years or will do so in the next five years. He said the foundation works with the Evangelical Church in Romania and gets about 85 percent of its money from the European Union.

Cismaru said many churches need new uses because they can no longer function only as places of worship. Fortified churches hosted events this month as part of a festival promoting Saxon heritage that organisers said drew almost 10,000 visitors.