Notes on the Black Church of Brasov

Photo: Ovidiu Vaduvescu with Permission

• An important Church in the Reformation of Transylvania. The church was originally Roman Catholic but became truely Catholic (Evangelical/Lutheran) under the great reformer Johannes Honterus during the Reformation.
• "The inhabitants of Brasov or "Kronstad" at that time, in almost 100 years from 1383 until 1477, built the Black Church, the largest gothic construction in Romania and one of the largest in the South-Eastern Europe. Dedicated to Virgin Marry the church was of catholic faith for more than a century and a half and later with the reformation sweeping across the Europe it became a Lutheran one. The church acquired its name after the great fire of 1689 when it was badly damaged; the roof was destroyed and the walls blackened from the smoke. The reconstruction after the great fire took another 100 years, most of the objects inside the church dating from the reconstruction time except the baptismal font which was cast in bronze by a local craftsman in 1450. The walls of the church are covered by ottoman prayer rugs dating from 16th-18th centuries. The local merchants gave those rugs as gifts to the church, as gratitude towards God. The impressive church organ manufactured in Germany in 1829 has 4000 pipes and is considered the second biggest in the country. Outside the church is the statue of Johannes Honterus the priest who introduced in 16th century the reformation among the Saxons in Transilvania." http://www.atlantic.ro/atlantic/Atlantic_site/what_to_see/brasov.htm
• The Black Church

Persian Rugs and Carpet

Turkish Rugs

Turkmen Rugs

Southwest Asia Time Line

Caucasian Rugs