Cristian (Großau in German, Kereszténysziget in Hungarian) is the first community westwards from Sibiu, on the main road. It has an interesting fortified church that is worth seeing.

The town lies on the banks of Cibin River, the same river that goes through the city of Sibiu. It was first attested in the year 1223 as Insula Christana (in Latin) and was founded by the German settlers.

The village has now around 4100 inhabitants (according to the 2021 census), from wich 90% are Romanians and for the rest the statistics do not know the ethnicity. However, Cristian is known locally as a place where there is a strong Gypsy community and where it is advisable to go only by daylight, so the statistical reluctance is understandable… The Germans are now completely vanished.

The fortified church was built in the 13th century, a period from which only the Romanesque tower survives. The rest of the complex was built around 1490 in the Gothic style.

I was fortunate to arrive at this church in a sunny day so I wanted to visit it, especially since I read that inside there is also a museum. Closed? What do you think?

It wasn’t only closed, but it was impossible to know where the entrance is, as the 2 arrows were pointing in opposite directions. I know, it is hallucinating, but here is the photo as a proof!!!

I tried another entrance. It was also closed. WTF?!?

So I had no choice but to go around the fortifications…

The place was burned several times by the Turks, the Tatars and by… the Romanians from Wallachia. Then the plague and the cholera paid a visit to the community in 1553. Then Michael the Brave (Mihai Viteazu) has killed the priest (Matthias Heintzius) inside the church in 1599 (not a “brave” deed if you ask me). Perhaps this is why the people in the community have become shy, or reluctant to open the gates, or both…