In the Burzenland plain east of Brașov, the village of Prejmer, known to its Saxon founders as Tartlau, is home to one of the most remarkable buildings in Romania: a fortified church surrounded by massive circular walls, with hundreds of storage rooms built into them on several levels. The church was begun in the thirteenth century by the Teutonic Knights, who were invited into the region by the Hungarian king to defend the frontier, and later strengthened by the Saxon villagers, who built the walls to protect themselves against Ottoman and Tatar raids. It is part of the UNESCO listing of villages with fortified churches in Transylvania.
Inside the walls, the church has a Gothic interior with a beautiful winged altarpiece, and the rooms in the walls, reached by wooden stairs and galleries, were used to store food and belongings, and to shelter families during sieges. The walls were equipped with an organ of death, a battery of guns that could fire in sequence. The village itself has wide streets and colourful houses built by the Saxons, many of whom emigrated to Germany after the fall of communism, leaving the villages to new inhabitants.
The riding around Prejmer is mostly flat, with good roads across the plain and views of the Carpathian mountains rising on all sides. From Brașov, a short ride away, the good roads fan out in every direction, towards Bran Castle and Râșnov fortress, and further afield, the Transfăgărășan and Transalpina high mountain roads. Traffic can be heavy around Brașov, and horse carts and livestock are common in villages.
Prejmer, a village of around eight thousand people, has fuel, shops and restaurants. Brașov has everything else. Local cuisine includes Transylvanian dishes such as goulash, sarmale and kürtőskalács, a sweet chimney cake baked over coals, often sold at markets and fairs. Visit the fortified church early or late in the day, when the light is soft and the crowds are small.