St. Margaret's Church, Mediaș

The medieval fortified church stands on a hill in the valley of the Târnava Mare River. Archaeological excavations revealed the existence of three earlier buildings: a small Gothic basilica with side chapels, a hall church from the beginning of the 14th century and an early-15th-century-built church with a northern cross-ribbed-vaulted aisle. The present-day church was to a large part built in the second half of the 15th century. The choir and the nave are net-vaulted and the south aisle is as high as the nave. The outer walls are supported by buttresses. The windows display Late-Gothic tracery. In the north-west corner stands the Buglers’ Tower. The valuable church furniture include the folding altar, the 14th century bronze font, the Baroque organ and the pulpit baldachin, coats of arms, inscriptions and epitaphs. The church is surrounded by an oval enclosing wall, which is still extant in the southwest. Later buildings superimpose the enclosing wall to the north and to the east. The gate-and-bell tower with a wooden defence storey stands in the midst of the enclosing wall; other towers stand in front of the wall. Despite the completion of the city walls at the middle of 16th century, the structural fabric of the church-fortress has survived to a large extent.