Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania red bricks, with a red clay tiled roof, a typical feature of the area. Close to the church there is the main square of the village or "Tanzplaz" (Dance Square) to which social life gravitated. The only buildings situated next to the fortifications are those of communal use: the school or the village hall. The parish house, along with the houses of the most wealthy villagers, were situated around this square. Also in most sites, barns for grain storage are situated close to the centre of the village. Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania The south-eastern Transylvania region in Romania
Early German colonists in Transylvania devastated and remained depopulated after the Mongol invasion of 1241. During the following years he laid the foundations to "Villa Nympz" (Nimesch), a fortified peasant village in a side valley of the Great Kokel River near Medgyes.<ref> Despite of all future historical tribulations and misfortunes, Medardus and his descendants, later known as the Maiterth family, managed to cultivate the former wilderness and transform it into rich and fertile farmland (agriculture, viticulture, stockbreeding). Early German colonists in Transylvania Medardus de Nympz is the Latinized name of Medard zu Nimesch, an early medieval German colonist in Transylvania. Born around 1215 in the