Church Șura Mare

The three-aisled basilica with choir square, semicircular apse and apsidioles in the east end of the aisles was built in the first half of the 13th century. It had cross-vaulted aisles and a flat ceiling above the nave and six-bay arcades that separated the nave from the aisles. The present-day tower was built around 1300 in the west end of the church. It displays a multiple-stepped pointed arch portal. The revealed gemel windows and niches in the outer wall of the tower are Early-Gothic as well. The church was fortified at the end of 15th century, probably after the devastation caused by the Ottoman raids of 1493. The year 1495 can be read in different spots. A defence storey was constructed above the Romanesque choir, closing thus five sides of the decagon in the east. The outjutting defence storey is supported by moulded piers and in-between-lying stepped consoles. Above the choir square, it rests on the supporting corbels of the machicolation. The choir roof is higher than the roof of the nave. A Gothic portal with shouldered arches leads to the vestry in the north wing of the church. A tower-like projection was built above the south entrance.