The village is situated 6 km south from the E 85 national road which connects Rupea and Sighişoara.

It is situated at the watershed between the drainage basins of Târnava Mare and Olt rivers. The relief is mainly composed of deforested hills of medium height.

On one hand, the landscape of the village is dominated by the fortress with its defensive towers and the high tower of the Lutheran church, on the other hand the vegetation of the western and northern hills is remarkable as well.

Viscri was established by colonization. In contrast with many other localities, the Saxon colonists had replaced the Szekler, who were put here by the Kingdom of Hungary to defend the borders. Around the year 1185 the ethnic German Saxon colonists overtook the locality and its old chapel.

The ensemble of the Lutheran Church consists of a hall-type church with a semicircular apse having an irregular shape at the basis and polygonal at the top. The pipe organ is placed behind the altar on the gallery which was built in 1723. The choir is trapezoidal, the sacristy has a rectangular basis. The church has only one trapezoidal shaped nave. It can be accessed through three embrasures on the southern side, two of them being on the first level preceded by two aediculae with semicircular openings and one on the second level of the gallery, next to the steeple. Another access point can be found on the northern side of the choir, through the sacristy. The tower of the church has a square basis, it has seven levels and it is constructed of stones. The first and the second levels are vaulted with cylindrical vaults, the rest of the floors are separated with wooden beams. The entrance to the tower is from the nave through a small hall with a simple Gothic styled frame. The stairs to the second and third floor were made as part of the thick wall while the access to the upper floors is assured by interior wooden stairs.

Amongst the artistic components of the church the Gothic gate of the southern main entrance is remarkable. The semicircular Gothic archivolt is also remarkable.

Furniture are represented by the Classicist altar, the galleries from the XVII-XIX centuries in style of painted folk furniture, the Baroque baldachin pulpit 1791 and the baptistery is from the 13^th century.

The pipe organ placed on the stands above the altar is from 1817. The tower has three bells.

The fortress consists of two fortified enclosures constructed of river rocks and quarry-run stones. The first enclosure’s route is a polygonal irregular one, adapted to the configuration of the ground and it englobes the south, east and northeast side of the wall, which was built in the 13^th century. It can be accessed through a massive wooden gate lined with metal strings and through a small gate situated between the Gate Tower and the Southern Tower.

_{Visit the fortified church:}

Contact person: Mrs. Gerhild Gross,

Phone number: +40742077 506 or +40742069 477

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_Hours:

Monday-Saturday 10:00-13:00 and 15:00-18:00

Sunday with appointment.

From November until April the summer schedule is no longer valid, but visiting is possible upon request.

_{Information for visitors:}

There are more than one possibilities for accommodation and gastronomy in Viscri:

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