Gârbova Fortified Church

The Câlnic castle was built around 1270 and equipped with a residential tower, defence wall and a water ditch featuring a drawbridge. After the castle was taken over by the Saxon community, it was expanded through the construction of a second defence wall and a southern tower. For a better defence against sieges, granaries and several rooms were attached to the fortification wall, however they did not last to the present day. The fortress was provided with a small single-nave church featuring a semicircular apse towards the end of the 15th century. During the construction of the second defence wall, the water ditch was covered up and the drawbridge replaced with a gatehouse featuring a portcullis. Today, an association of the University of Cluj administrates the facility.

The Romanesque pier basilica built around 1260 was changed to a hall church starting in 1496 when the side aisles were heightened. From the initial building only the walls and the tower remained, which has been integrated into the roof. In the attic of the side aisles the round Romanesque clerestory windows are still preserved, after being covered in 1783 by the construction of the nave’s vault. During this period the chancel was enlarged and the interior decorated with Tuscan columns on the triumphal arch and next to the walls.
The interior furnishing date back to the 18th century. The defence wall with gate tower was built between the 13th and the 15th century. Almost its whole interior side is built with massive two-level rooms and granaries, and behind them the battlement walk. The cells were provided with a protruded pitched roof, for the protection of the villager’s grain chests, which are still exhibited today.

The fortified church in Apoldu de Sus was erected after the demolition of the old Romanesque basilica preceding it. A church hall was built in 1836 and completed with a tower in 1867. The interior is a nice example of a neoclassical church, where the altar from 1751 and the organ from 1816 are still preserved, both of them originating from the old basilica. Only ruins of the old fortifications still remain. Nevertheless, one can notice the well-preserved structure of the traditional village, with narrow walk paths and typical farms on both sides of the main road.