Biserica Neagră

The great Gothic church of Transylvania, the Black Church towers over the old town of Brașov and is the largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul. Its blunt, powerful mass of grey stone dominates the medieval Council Square and the surrounding streets built by the region's Transylvanian Saxon community.

Construction began in the late fourteenth century and stretched over generations, producing a monumental hall church with a single tall tower. Its popular name comes from a devastating fire in 1689, set during a Habsburg campaign, which blackened the walls; though later cleaned, the sombre name endured. The building became a Lutheran church after the Reformation reached the Saxon towns, and it remains the spiritual centre of the local German-speaking Protestant community.

Inside it holds notable treasures. The church contains one of the largest collections of Anatolian carpets in Europe, gifts and trade goods donated by merchants over the centuries and now hung along the galleries and walls in glowing rows. A large mechanical organ, built in the nineteenth century with several thousand pipes, is played at regular recitals and fills the vast, austere interior with sound. Statues, tombstones and a bronze font add further layers of history.

For visitors the church is the anchor of any tour of Brașov. It stands at the foot of Mount Tâmpa in the compact old town, a short walk from the Council Square, the medieval gates and the famously narrow Rope Street. A modest admission grants access to the interior and the carpet collection, and organ concerts are held through the warmer months. Modest dress is appreciated, and the plain, echoing nave offers a striking contrast to the ornate Baroque churches found further west.