Kisdisznód (Romanian: Cisnădioara, German: Michelsberg) is a village in Romania, in Transylvania, in the county of Szeben (Sibiu). It is located 12 km south-southwest of Nagyszeben, at the foot of the Csindrel Mountains. It is famous for its fortified church, built in the Kingdom of Hungary before 1223. Find it on My Google Maps: https://shorturl.at/WrzJB
Both its Hungarian and Romanian names refer to Nagydisznód. It was first mentioned in Latin in 1223, under Sancti Michaelis. Other historical names are Michelsperg (1488), Csisznadia-mik and Michelsdorf (1501), and Csiznedioara (1850).
It was originally a Saxon village of Fehér County, probably founded at the end of the 12th century. In 1223 the village and its church on the hill were given to the Kerc Abbey. Later, when the abbey was abolished by King Matthias in 1474, it was subordinated to the town of Nagyszeben and from then on belonged to the region of Szebenszék, and from 1876 to the district of Nagydisznód of Szeben County.
On the top of the 88-meter-high Michelsberg hill, which is surrounded by the village, stands the Lutheran so-called mountain church. The small three-aisled basilica was probably built at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries, it is the oldest preserved Transylvanian Saxon building. It is in pure Romanesque style. Its decorated western gate is particularly noteworthy. Its Madonna from 1425 is now preserved in the Brukenthal Museum in Nagyszeben (Sibiu).
Its 15th-century wall, which is still partly standing, was once part of a defense tower. After the church was built in the village, it served mainly as a stronghold during the passing of armies and as a store for the population’s food supplies. The interior, which today contains nothing but a memorial to the fallen of World War I, impresses with its contemplative silence.
In the Silberbach valley, there are round stones similar to those in Felek. In the old days, every bachelor who wanted to get married had to roll one of these round stones up to the mountain church. These could be used against invaders in case of a siege. The stones can still be seen in the church.
After 1526 the parish priest of the village was Heltai Gáspár. Heltai Gáspár (Nagydisznód?, 1510? – Kolozsvár, 1574?) was a reformer, Protestant pastor, writer, translator, and printer. He was an outstanding representative of late Renaissance literature in the Hungarian language and one of the creators of European-style Hungarian prose.
His family name suggests that he was born in Heltau (Nagydisznód) in Szeben County, in a Transylvanian Saxon family. Heltai was a native German speaker, he learned Hungarian (according to a Székely dialect) only in 1536, but he published almost all his works in this language. He published only a few works in German, and from 1552 he published only in Hungarian and Latin.
There was no other publishing house that regularly published works in Hungarian. Heltai wrote, translated, or edited most of his publications himself, with such consistency in spelling that the dissemination of his works and publications played an important role in regulating Hungarian grammar. The Hungarian Unitarian Church counts him among its notable members.
In 1658, the Turks burnt the village and attempted to besiege the church on the hill ( it was the only siege in the history of the church). The painted parapet in the church dates back to 1709. Only remnants of the wall ring with its defense towers have survived from the original fortifications.
You can find another nice building in the village. It is the Gothic tower of the Lutheran church in the village that was built in 1428, while the nave was built in 1764. Its organ dates back to 1723 and is the oldest one still in operation in Romania.
The village was famous for its fruit growing and its folk cottage industry (basket and straw hat weaving). In 1873 a house in Kisdisznód was used as a model for the ‘Saxon’ farmhouse built at the World Exhibition in Vienna.
It used to be a popular place for excursions for the people of Nagydisznód, and today many people from Nagyszeben (Sibiu) buy or build weekend houses there. Opposite the church in the village, there is an ethnographic exhibition.
In 1850, out of 769 inhabitants, 752 were of German nationality and 752 of Lutheran religion.
In 2002, of its 345 inhabitants, 245 were Romanian, 95 German, and 5 Hungarian; 230 were Orthodox, 96 Evangelical, and 5 were Reformed.
Here is a wonderful video of the church fortress by Adrian Arsu Films:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsZ5q4pS6BM
Sources: Hungarian Wikipedia, and Fortified Churches Foundation
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Here are many pictures of Kisdisznód:
