Viscri fortified church
| Viscri fortified church Biserica fortificată din Viscri |
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Viscri, Brașov County, Romania |
| Geographic coordinates | 46°03′17″N 25°05′19″E / 46.054712°N 25.088622°ECoordinates: 46°03′17″N 25°05′19″E / 46.054712°N 25.088622°E |
| Affiliation | Lutheran |
| Country | Romania |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Fortified church |
| Architectural style | Romanesque |
| Groundbreaking | 13th century |
| Official name: Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania | |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iv |
| Designated | 1993 (17th session) 1999 (23rd session – Extension) |
| Reference no. | 596 |
| State Party | Romania |
| Region | Europe and North America |
| Type | architectural |
| Reference no. | LMI Code: BV-II-a-A-11843 (RAN Code: 40759.09) |
The Viscri fortified church (Romanian: Biserica fortificată din Viscri; German: Kirchenburg von Deutschweißkirch) is a Lutheran fortified church in Viscri (Deutschweißkirch), Brașov County, in the Transylvania region of Romania. It was built by the ethnic German Transylvanian Saxon community at a time when the area belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary. Initially Roman Catholic, it became Lutheran following the Reformation. Together with the surrounding village, the church forms part of the villages with fortified churches in Transylvania UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The weißkirch ("white church") in the village's German name refers to a chapel built by the Székely inhabitants who lived there prior to the Saxons' arrival between 1141 and 1162, during the reign of Géza II. The building was rectangular, with a semicircular altar of greenish-white limestone. Four Romanesque capitals that survive in the choir, including one used as a baptismal font, also originate in this period. Coins and earrings found in graves both inside and outside the chapel were initially thought to date from the reign of Coloman (1095–1116), but a re-evaluation found that the oldest coin came from the late reign of Géza II, suggesting the remains were of Saxons rather than Székely.
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