Living in Sibiu definitely has its good parts. One of them is that, well, Sibiu is almost in the center of Romania which can only be translated in getting faster to any part of the country. A very good thing especially when you wake up early on a Sunday morning and don’t want to waste a sunny autumn weekend day.  So a visit to the Calnic Peasants Fortress seemed like the best thing to do, especially since the Fortress is only about 50 kilometers far from Sibiu.

The Calnic Fortress is quite old actually, the people of the Calnic village started building it in the year 1270. Until 1300 they built the massive stone keep of 9 x 14 meters, the precincts wall and the court chapel. Another step in the building of this fortress was between the years 1450 – 1600, when the Saxons came in this area and imposed their style. They built the chapel that can now be seen in the fortress, the outer precincts wall, a defence building in front of the gate tower and chambers behind the precincts walls used by the village people in case of danger. After the year 1700 the fortress had only military purposes.

In the 1960s the fortress was restored and now it is owned by a foreign association. Since 1999 it is part of the Unesco Heritage.

The Calnic Fortress is one of the most important architectural sites of Romania and a very good evidence of the Saxon influence in Transylvania. We were truly impressed of the way it looks today. Everything is in a very good shape and clean. We were the only visitors on that Sunday and we were let to explore it at our own pace.

You can climb up to the big bell area, visit the capel, go into the cellar, or visit the small museum they have with traditional artifacts from the area.

They also organize from time to time concerts and private events, but most of the time, the fortress is open for visiting for an entrance fee of only 5 lei (1.2 EUR). So if you are going from Sibiu to Alba Iulia, just turn left on the E81 road and after 3 kilometers, in the center of the village you will have the chance to enjoy this beautiful place.