Cisnădie is a locality situated in Sibiu county, with a population of 13838 inhabitants.

Cisnădie

Evangelical church in Cisnadioara (Heltau)

GPS Coordinates:
45.71325 N, 24.15125 E

The three-nave fortified Evangelical church was built at the beginning of the XIII century in honor of Saint Walpurga. First written records date back to 1349. The church was fortified following the Turkish raid: the main tower was raised and loopholes were added, two bastions-, and three surrounding walls were built. The walls had ailes, towers, bastions and were surrounded by ditches filled with water.

The watchtower, the city hall tower, the bacontower, the sickle makers' tower, and the schooltower are still standing. The belfry is 32,50m high. It has been burnt down by lightning several times. This led to the installation of the first lightning rod in Transilvania, following the Raimarus model. For centuries the church has guarded the treasure of Cisnădie, which represented the assests of the church. The treasure was hidden in the wall and it was always only two people who knew the location. In 1793 the opening up of the hiding-place resulted in a number of valuables from the middle ages.

Part of the valuables were used to pay for the restructuring of the church. The remaining have been exhibited in the museum in Sibiu since 1915. The church guards a bell, cast in 1664, a font, and the gate of the old altar. The northern wall of the choir bears the remain of XV century paintings. The church also guards the blue gemstones inlaid cross of the first settlers in the XII century. The upper part of the old altar, painted by Vincentius Cibinensiss in 1525, is guarded in the Brukhental museum.