Along with the planned trips and those that are born from pure curiosity, there are also adventures we have either by mistake or which have a funny story behind them.
While my blog is full of serious stories about how we ended up exploring hundreds of places, today's post will be a bit funnier than you expect when visiting a church that often gathers together people with either curious or sober faces.
So... even if not a long time ago I shared another story about a religious place I, along with my sister and mother decided to visit (you can read about it HERE), still together with my family and during a chill walk in town on a sunny day, we ended up in front of the church mentioned in my previous post that for some reason I always enjoy being around even if we are not talking about an orthodox church.
Being pretty used to the landscape that always seems so beautiful in this part of the town due to the building itself which is an imposing one, this time my curiosity was caught by the many people who were in front of the building, either spending time around or entering the church.
From my knowledge, I knew this is a historical monument of high interest in Sibiu and that there is needed a tax to be paid in order to visit it, but we do have from time to time days when it's either free to visit any museum in town, or any religious place, so I thought that I might have missed the news and it's one of those days. That's why, we waited no more and entered the building.
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At first, I felt really thrilled about finally being able to visit a place that is in the town where I'm currently living and always wanted to see it but never made enough time to proceed further, but then I realized that it's not one of those days I mentioned above but actually a wedding and that the doors were actually opened for the guests to come in and find their seats, and not for tourists, lol.
That's the moment when we realized that we were neither guests nor supposed to be there, but it was way too funny the situation we got into not to take advantage to look around and take a few pictures even if that happened on a more alert pace than usual due to the wedding ceremony that was about to start.
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Of course not long after we entered the building we noticed some more guys coming in either to check the plans of the day or to be ready to welcome the guests and find the best seats for them depending on how close they were to the the newlyweds, and no doubt the clothes we were wearing didn't help much to seem like being part of the guests, but we continued our silent laughter and the little exploration before leaving and returning home with a story that deserved to be shared further.
No matter how funny the story is either just for us or for more people reading this blog, I still have to do my job here sharing a proper opinion about what we explored and if it's truly worth it or not, so let's get to serious things and find out why the church is so important.
First, we are talking about a church dating since the 14th century which still keeps its impressive look even seven centuries later which is often described as a place that you can't cross by without noticing due to its architecture that is very rare on this part of Europe. But if you thought that talking about a building that is standing still even after more than 700 years is enough to make an idea of how important it is, find out that the place itself represents a place of honor since in the 12th century it was occupied by a Roman church which was replaced with the current one.
The first thing that gathers curiosity from those passing by are the seven levels of the building which are perfectly completed by the four towers placed on the corners surrounding the whole religious place and which are a subtle touch to show that Sibiu had the right of condemnation back in the old historical times.
The total height of "Saint Mary” Evangelical Parish Church is nearly 74 meters which represents a strange height for churches that can be found in Transylvania but which earned this the title of the tallest religious place on this part of Romania.
There are a total of three pipe organs inside the church, each with its story behind it, but one of them is a bit more special than the others not just because it was replaced more times with some better ones brought from different countries but also because it represents the largest pipe organ in South-Eastern Europe.
Even though the pipe organs represent a point of interest in any religious place people end up visiting, there are a lot more things to see inside the ”Saint Mary” Evangelical Parish Church that comes with lots of valuable items created by craftsmen, from some of the most beautiful bronze decorations you can see in Romania to other pieces of art that are more or less reachable by tourists.
The styles used for creating either these or the architecture of the building already speak a lot for themselves since both the Baroque and Byzantine influences are quite powerful when it comes to churches and no doubt they have a personal touch that can't pass unnoticeable.
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While architecture is a pretty vast domain from where you always have something new to learn about, I often call myself a newbie in terms of knowledge on this field. Hence why, even though it represents a big point of interest for me, there are some other things that increase my level of curiosity, one of them being the genuine pieces of the building that survived with the passage of time and not just those that were helped by renovations.
Happily, some parts of history can be still noticed on the ground close to the altar which are not just pieces of the old ground but tombstones that can be found on the walls of the building too but which are not visible to tourists anymore.
Starting with 1496, the ”Saint Mary” Evangelical Parish Church served as a burial place for mayors, county administrative leaders, and other important personalities of Sibiu, which used to be a prohibited activity after 1796 but which became an exception in 1803 when baron Samuel von Brukenthal's body was laid for the eternal sleep in the vault built near the pulpit and which also represented the last person buried here.
One of the oldest grave dates since 1510 and it's dedicated to the son of Vlad Țepeș who is more famous under the name of Vlad Dracula or Vlad the Impaler. The name of his son is Mihnea Vodă cel Rău and it's well known for his activity while being the voivode of Transylvania but which found its death being assassinated in Sibiu.
While most of the tombstones that covered the graves were dismantled and incorporated into the walls of the church during a renovation, there are still a few more left uncovered for people to see, these days counting a gallery of 67 such tombstones that are unique in Romania.
The church is open to visitors any day of the week starting from 10 AM until 8 PM from Monday to Thursday and on Saturday, from 12 PM to 8 PM on Friday, and from 11 AM to 8 PM on Sunday, being needed to be paid a tax of either 10 RON / 2.01 EUR per adult to visit the church or 15 RON / 3.02 EUR per adult to see both the church and the tallest tower of the building from where you can get a beautiful and unique view over the town.
The access to the tower was the single thing I think we missed during our visit because the access to it was made from a different entrance to the church than the one we used but there is no doubt we will return there one day for a complete and fair experience.
Additionally, during the summer there are held weekly concerts inside the church on Tuesdays and Saturdays for an extra cost of 20 RON / 4.02 EUR per person, or at no cost on Fridays.
I know @erikah is a fan of visiting this kind of medieval places and I think she also attended a few concerts inside the churches if I am not wrong? So I'm really curious if she visited this place by now or not, but personally, I consider that it's worth a visit whether you are passionate about medieval buildings or not.
In the end, we are talking about historical monuments which are standing still even after hundreds of years since they were built and it's always a cool way to improve your knowledge about what a country has been through from the source itself instead of just reading books.
In order to reach Biserica Evanghelică "Sfânta Maria" you can pick from more buses that have a stop close to the center of Sibiu where the church is located, but being a historical center that is mostly pedestrian, you will still need to walk in all the situations for at least 10 minutes depending on the route you opt for. Some buses that get fairly close to the church are: 12, 1, 11, 3, 2.
SEE YOU IN THE NEXT TRIP! 🗾
Gabriela Travels is the FOUNDER of "Festival Mania" who started this community from the passion of attending various festivals and with the purpose of encouraging more people to explore festivals all around the world and share their experiences. At the same time, Gabriela is an independent Graphic Design Freelancer since 2019 completing over 600+ orders in this time and collaborating with various businesses and people from all over the globe. Additonally, Gabriela has her own corner on the internet since 2017 where she writes various articles for her blog, the most popular being the travel ones (260+ articles written on this field), but also abording other topics as well, like game reviews, movie and series reviews, photography posts, cooking recipes and more, boosting the total number of articles written to 550+ blog posts. Gabriela is also a gamer since she was 11 years old and gaming remains one of her biggest passions along with traveling, editing, cooking, and doing various sports activities.
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