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
History of Transylvania the last political triumph of Hungarian Protestantism, in which the emperor was forced to reconfirm the articles of the Peace of Vienna. Gabriel Bethlen and George I Rákóczi aided education and culture, and their reign has been called the golden era of Transylvania. They lavished money on their capital Alba Iulia ("Gyulafehérvár" or "Weißenburg"), which became the main bulwark of Protestantism in Central Europe. During their reign, Transylvania was one of the few European countries where Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans and Unitarians lived in mutual tolerance—all officially accepted religions ("religiones recaepte"). The Orthodox, however, still had inferior status. This golden