GENERAL PRESENTATION
Gherdeal is located at 10 km from the Olteț train station (in the Saxon Language Besembav) and it is placed between forest-covered hills. The history of
this village is in a tight connection with that of the Carta Oltului.
The Orthodox church from Gherdeal is an edifice in a rectangular plane, with its structure in a single nave and a ritual compartmentalization of the interior
space, into naos and pronaos. The Eastern apse, recessed, is of an irregular polygonal shape, with 5 sides (the lateral ones disposed perpendicularly
onto the Eastern side of the nave). Highlighting the pentagonal shape, both on the exterior as well as on the interior of the apse, marks the influence of
the architecture of the Gothic churches, a fact which indicates the possibility that the builders might have originated from the Saxon environment. An
expression of the same occidental influence, the bell tower, a square section, is attached to the Western extremity of the nave.
The general dimensions of the building are of 15.91 m in length and 5.90 m in width, the height of the edifice reaching 6.17 m at the ridge of the roof, a
level beyond which the tower is risen with another 10.98 m.
Within the thickness of the Northern and Southern walls of the nave, built from brick and rocks from quarries with irregular surfaces, rectangular
windows are opened, closed in a flat arch. In a symmetrical layout, the following are found: two pairs in the naos and a third one in the narthex. The
space of the nave is delimited in the East, from the compartment of the sanctuary, through the iconostasis, conceived at Gherdeal as a full masonry
wall, with three openings in the lower part and a niche closed in a flat arch, in axis, over the imperial doors. Two mullions support the iconostasis in
its intermediary area (their structure gave in, so they were replaced, provisionally, with pillars made of oak wood) and two engaged columns, at the
extremities (visible only from the interior of the apse). The openings of the windows, similar in form and dimension to the ones from the nave, are
distributed in the areas of the apse, being located one on the axis and the other two on the external sides of the polygon. The North-Eastern and South-
Eastern walls, disposed obliquely towards the axis of the monument and which are not provided with windows, instead with niches closed in a flat
arch, corresponding to the Prothesis and Diaconicon. A narrow wall table, supported on the Northern side of the apse serves the same liturgical ritual,
that of the Prothesis.
Concerning the roofing system, the interior spaces of the Orthodox Church from Gherdeal show a particularity which is met very rarely in the
Transylvanian cult architecture. This consists in the fact that above the masonry walls, which form vertical support elements for the nave, the craftsmen
superimposed a cradle vault, with an axial layout, which is not made of masonry, but built entirely of wood. The laths, oriented to the direction of the
axis, were mounted on four transversal arches, which form the exterior frame or the vault.
In the sanctuary, the apsidal vault is built, yet it highlights an equally unusual system. This is composed of a spherical cap, the section of which tends
to get a hexagonal shape, towards the level where it overlaps the sides of the polygon described in the plane, by the vertical walls of the apse. The
connection is made through six unequal arches and six spherical triangles. The bell tower, on the Eastern facade of which the existence of an architectural
decoration element is noted, in the shape of a circular eye, is supported directly at ground level, having arch openings, in the North and South. Located
right under the tower, the interior access door is opened in the axis, on the Western side of the nave. At the level of the arches, right above the entrance,
rises a crossed contorted vault.
The vault of the nave is comprised within the general volume of a high roof, in two partial sides, with sharp tile covers. Above the apse, the roof is
flattened and a bit lower.
The cover of the Western tower starts out as a pyramid body, short and with a square base, to which the high and sharp pyramidal crest, in an octagonal
section is articulated.

THE STATE BEFORE THE INTERVENTION
The setup, 5 years ago, of a provisional cover from a hydro-insulating foil lead to, in a first stage, the degradation of the painting from the vault of the
naos due to high condensation. In time, this hydro-insulation degraded, allowing the infiltration of water, which lead to the degradation of the painting.

SAFETY INTERVENTION PROPOSAL
The urgent rebuilding of the cover over the altar and the naos and closing with a light wooden structure of the tympanum between the altar and the naos
is proposed, the meteoric water already affecting irreversibly the painting and the structure represented by the wall from the level of the iconostasis.

ACCOMPLISHED INTERVENTIONS
It was performed the replacement of the damaged hydro-insulating membrane from the level of the altar and the naos with a definitive one from
manual ceramic tiles. The ceramic tile in a triangular shape was purchased from the Țara Bârsei Area, the area from where the original cover originated.
Special thanks for the support and involvement to Lect. Dr. Ioan Ovidiu Abrudan, Lect. univ. Dr. Cristina Dăneasă and Maria Modi.

GENERAL PRESENTATION
The monument is located in the eastern side of the village and is now made up of a hall-church and an isolated bell tower placed 6.50 m west from the
church. Both components are made of masonry and bear the traces of abandonment by the community which scattered in the second half of the 20th
century and the first decades of the following one: walls demolished to the ground on the western side, degraded roofs and plaster, poorly maintained
or broken/partially disappeared gullies, broken windows, the interior inventory partially moved to other institutions as a safety measure.
In the middle ages, the church was part of a fortified ensemble, then they erected a series of differently proportioned buildings on the premises and
outside it, like the school (1913) and the “Teacher’s House”, both by the tower and near the “Fortress Manager’s House” (attached to the northern façade
of the bell tower); there’s also the “Community House” and the evangelical parish house.

THE STATE BEFORE THE INTERVENTION
The building constituted a public danger considering that the precinct wall no longer existed (and the area was quite frequented by the local youth)
and tiles fell off the roof quite frequently. The church roof was degraded and allowed for infiltrations because of the exfoliation of the manufactured
historical tiles and of the breaks in them caused by mechanical shocks (probably hailstone), the roof elements would slide down the laths and some the
laths were wrongfully disposed. The roof was made of several types of historical tile.

SAFETY INTERVENTION PROPOSAL
The proposal was to remake the roof on a “piece by piece” basis: dismantle, sort and rearrange the ceramic items and replace the missing ones with
manufactured ceramic elements of identical shape, size, disposition, mechanical properties and manufacturing technique.

ACCOMPLISHED INTERVENTIONS
The first two rows of tiles were mounted on the eave in a limestone-based mortar bed after the previous cleaning of the surplus of mortar from the latest
intervention. First we needed to mount the gutter hooks on the ejectors.
The historical laths carved in fir wood were preserved and only the degraded ones were replaced following a careful visual inspection. The new lathes
were mechanically debited. In the areas where the irregular section of the historical laths allowed the tiles to slide down, we selected and used longer
lip tiles. The historical crests from the edges were reused and wet-mounted. After remounting the roof, we mounted new gutters and drainpipes.
With the help of experts, we probed the interior church walls. We discovered several dates and inscriptions on the laths, the tiles and the bricks.
Also, we replaced the tiles and the degraded or missing crests from the bell tower roof and the old, dysfunctional lightning rod.

HISTORY
The hall church was built around the year 1400, its style belonging from a stylistic point of view to the late Gothic. Closed towards its Eastern side,
its generous choir loft is separated through an unusually high triumphal arch, of a hall, it being illuminated by three windows that were once closed
by an ogival arch. On the Northern walls there are no windows, while the Southern wall has three narrow windows in an ogival arch. In older days,
westwards, the façade opened an impressive portal of about two meters in height and 1.5 m in width, it being subsequently built in. One can enter the
church through a single access door located on the Southern side, access that forms another ogival arch which is evidently profiling through a mortar
plastering. The defensive installations had seven ramparts each, two located on the walls of the choir loft and one on the Eastern sides of the apse. The
ramparts are rectangular, their destination being addressed to the fire guns.
The choir loft and the hall are provided with a hemicylindrical vault with penetrations. In the West, there is a balcony for the organ, added later. The
organ is from 1812 and it was repaired by master Karl Einschenk in 1914. From the Gothic period, the tabernacle and 2 bells from the XVth and XVIth
century remain. In the Southern part, the gate tower and the bell tower are located. The tower from the Southern side dates back to 1601, serving as a
bell tower, with a height of approximately 32 m. In the South-East, there is a building which, in 1854, was built as a city hall; it is possible that there was a chapel on the respective spot in the Middle Ages.
In the year 1880, restorations were carried out, consolidating the current vault; the choir loft was provided with a double circle and, on the inside, with 8 transversal bars, the lower part of the church was rebuilt from stone and brick. The lateral walls and the vault are built only from brick. According to the census from the year 1910, the inhabitants of the village, a number of 987 persons, decided to carry out a general restoration in the year 1912.
The baroque altar was destroyed when the choir lofts eastern wall collapsed in 2002. An oval space surrounds the church. Since there is no longer an
evangelic community in the locality, the collapsed choir loft has not been rebuilt.

CURRENT STATUS
After the collapse of the choir loft and the altar in the `90s, the church was effectively left prey to degradations and devastation by the local population. The oak structure of the roof is affected in a few points and dislodged, but it can still be salvaged. Dislodging of the wooden tie beams were produced due to an inadequate structure system and dislodging of the majority of the cantilevers from the level of the wooden tie beams appeared. Some of the wall plate and beams are rotten. A part of the laths is degraded. The tiles are degraded or missing here and there, allowing the infiltration of the meteoric water.
SAFEGUARDING PROPOSAL FOR THE MONUMENT
We propose the completion of the degraded structural elements, including the laths, and completing the missing or degraded elements of the cover.
At the level of the collapsed choir loft and altar, we propose the provisional closing of the resulted gap. Taking anti-theft measures is necessary, by
mounting a provisional metallic gate at the entrance from under the tower.

UNDERTAKEN INTERVENTIONS
All the degraded elements of the cover were replaced, as well as the degraded laths from the main nave. On the Southern part, the tiles were checked
one by one, and the rest were locally replaced.

VOLUNTEERS
Ștefan Vaida, Eugen Vaida, Veronica Vaida

GENERAL PRESENTATION
The ensemble of the evangelical church contains a Gothic basilica, built in the 14th c. with several interventions in the following centuries, surrounded
by an irregular polygonal precinct, the latter reinforced in the north-eastern corner with a rectangular tower. The tower, with two levels, has a lectern
roof-type, with the slope towards the interior of the enclosure.

THE STATE BEFORE THE INTERVENTION
The roof laths and covering of the tower were severely damaged, near to collapse, thus requiring an emergency intervention necessary to avoid the fall
of the entire roof structure, which also endangered the visitors and the tenants of the ensemble.

SAFETY INTERVENTION PROPOSAL
We proposed the replacement and completion of the degraded laths and industrial ceramic tiles with traditional ones.

ACCOMPLISHED INTERVENTIONS
After the documentation of the existing elements, the replacement of the laths was begun and afterwards the replacement of the covering with traditional tiles. The intervention was initiated by Kulturerbe Kirchenburgen Association, HOG Grosskopisch and the Evangelical Consistory in the District of Mediaș. The materials were assured by Anglo Romanian Trust for Traditional Architecture and private donors, while the tools were provided by S.C. TEMAD CO SRL in Brașov.

VOLUNTEERS
Razvan Stanciu, Tudor Tescoveanu, Cipi Munteanu, Ane Ristea, Ștefana Paul, Vlad Paul, Veronica Vaida, Eugen Vaida, William Blacker.

GENERAL PRESENTATION
The ensemble of the fortified church includes a basilica and a surrounding precinct with four towers and a large zwinger on the (south-)eastern side.
The basilica has both Romanesque (the naves with square-section pillars and the choir) and Gothic elements (the polygonal sanctuary and the vaults),
but also a Neo-gothic tower to the west. These major elements of the ensemble were built and rebuilt along the period between the 13th and the 19th c.

THE STATE BEFORE THE INTERVENTION
The roof covering of the basilica has been degraded for a long time. Minimal consolidation works were made some decades ago, but in time they began
to fail. Furthermore, because of the climate the degradations rapidly advanced, thus the water infiltrations threatened the roof structure.

SAFETY INTERVENTION PROPOSAL
For the basilica we proposed the completion/replacement of the degraded structural elements of the roof, the replacement of the degraded laths and
tiles by gradual interventions.

ACCOMPLISHED INTERVENTIONS
After the documentation of the roof elements covering the sacristy was made, the damaged covering was carefully dismantled and the degraded
structural elements of the framing were completed/replaced (rafters, purlins, rafter ties), as well as the degraded (laths). Afterwards, the previously
removed part of the covering was completed with manually made tiles. The works were financed by the Saxon organization from Alțâna (HOG Alzen),
by Siebenbürgische Stiftung and other donors, however it would not have been possible without the support of the generous and energetic Hans Tekeser (Alzner Automotive) and of Rosemarie Müller, the trustee of the ensemble. The works were executed by the team conducted by master Ernst Linzing from Mălâncrav. Monumentum Association, expert arch. Ioan Bucur and arch. Hermann Balthes offered pro bono the documentation necessary for the emergency intervention. Our thanks to all of the ones mentioned above, but also to TEMAD Romania – the traditional sponsor of the Ambulance for the monuments, who supported the expenses for the necessary tools and equipment of the volunteers.

VOLUNTEERS
Cornelia Florea, Erika Gnad Geb Binder, Daneasă Cristina, Eliza Toader, Andrei Buda, Andreea Maftei, Mihai Moldovan, Diana Muresan, Veronica Vaida, Eugen Vaida, Ștefana Paul.