Szászszentlászló (Laslea, formerly Laslea Mare, Grosslasseln) is a village in Transylvania, Romania, in the county of Szeben (Sibiu). It is famous for its German-Saxon Evangelic fortified church, which was built in the Kingdom of Hungary. The village is located in the Oltmellék mountain range, next to the Lászlói (Szentlászló, Lassler) stream.
The remains of an earthen castle were found in the Burgberg pasture on the outskirts of the settlement. The first written record of the village dates back to 1308, under the name Sanctus Ladislaus. Other variants of the name are Zentlázlow (1348), Zentlazlo (1404), de Magno Ladislao (1432), Lazzlen (1504), and Grosslaselen (1532).
In 1348 the settlement was the property of the monastery of Kolozsmonostor (Cluj Monastery). Later it was a Saxon free village of Segesvár Seat (Sighisoara). In 1488, 77 house owners, a school with a schoolmaster, a mill with a miller, three shepherds, and 16 empty houses were recorded in it. Its neighborhood laws date from 1672.
The village church dedicated to Saint László was built sometime around the middle of the 13th century. In 1308 the parish priest Ulrich was mentioned in the sources. It was built as a Romanesque basilica with three naves and a tower on the western façade.
From the nave, three arches lead to the aisles. In 1400, Pope Boniface IX granted an indulgence to the church, which was partially rebuilt in Gothic style more than half a century later, in 1456. Its naves were covered with a dome vault. In 1504 the parish received a tax reduction of 3 gold pieces and 25 denarii for the fortification works around the church. In 1836 the church was in danger of collapsing and the last religious service was held inside its walls in 1838. The medieval church was finally demolished in 1840.
The new church was built to the east of the old one, in a north-south direction, according to the plans of the engineer Himes and under the supervision of Samuel Teutsch from Segesvár (Schäßburg). The construction began in 1842. The new bell tower was built in 1843, but it collapsed in the same year.
Thus, the medieval bell tower was finally preserved. Between 1844 and 1845, the interior of the church was redecorated, with almost nothing from the old church being moved. In 1845, Bishop Georg Paul Binder consecrated the new church, which was a single nave with a semicircular nave and a sacristy on the west side of the sanctuary.
The upper levels of the bell tower, located to the west of the present church, have narrow loopholes. On the top floor, there is a wooden ambulatory. At the beginning of the 16th century, an oval wall was built around the church, which is still standing. Its eastern part was demolished when the new church was built and replaced by a wall parallel to the new church.
In 1850, 736 of its 1118 inhabitants were of German, 196 of Romanian and 186 of Gypsy nationality; 735 were Evangelical, 344 Orthodox and 39 Roman Catholic. In 2002, 1 016 of its 1 456 inhabitants were Romanian, 385 Roma, 34 German, and 19 Hungarian; 1 293 Orthodox, 71 Adventist, 31 Evangelical, 29 Baptist, and 10 Reformed.
After the Second World War, Romanian settlers coming from the village of Mogos from the Szigethegység (Island Mountains) settled in the village to replace the Saxons who were deported to the Soviet Union for forced labor.
Source: Hungarian Wikipedia
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Here are a few more pictures of the fortified church:
