Petercsák Tivadar - Berecz Mátyás (szerk.): Magyarország védelme - Európa védelme - Studia Agriensia 24. (Eger, 2006)

MAGYARORSZÁG VÉDELME -EURÓPA VÉDELME BALASSI BÁLINT ÉS BOCSKAI ISTVÁN KORÁBAN - TÜDŐS S. KINGA: Székelyföld - Egy különleges határvédelmi rendszer. A templomvárak a 16. századtól a 18. századig terjedő időszakban

church of Szentkert (no longer standing) near lka (now lea, Romania) Castle in neighbouring Háromszék County.

Thus, by the beginning of the 13th century at the latest, a number of Transylvanian churches were already surrounded by protective walls, meaning that the fortifications built mainly from the second half of the 15th century onwards were not totally without precedent. The flowering of one of the most important physical manifestations of the struggle for survival lasted from the 15th century right into the middle of the 17th century.

Despite the great variety of forms the 300 church fortifications took in Transylvania two basic types can be distinguished. Based on their groundplan and the features of the building structure they are considered to be the church fortress and the church castle. In the Szekler region it is the church castle which predominates, whose simple, clear distribution of space, the primary purpose of which was to protect the population, led to it taking its present form. In the south-eastern parts of Transylvania, in the region of the Olt (Oltul) and the sources of the two branches of the Küküllő (Timava) in Udvarhely and Marosszék Counties, as well as numerous villages in the Csík Basin, one finds an untouched church building surrounded by a comparatively low wall, sometimes accompanied by gate towers /Bögöz (Mugeni) Felső- sófalva (Ocna de Sus) Agyagfalva (Lutita), Csíkdelne (Delnita), Csíkrákos (Racu)/. In Háromszék County the churches one finds surrounded by defensive walls include towers /Sepsiszentgyörgy (Sfîntu Gheorghe), Lemhény (Lemnia), Zabola (Zäbala), Kézdiszentlélek (Sînzieni) etc./.

During the course of the 15th and 16th centuries the rapid development and spread of firearms led to changes in defensive systems. The science of fortress construction produced defensive systems that now followed the contours of the land. The so-called Old Italian, which came to be superceded by the New Italian, bastion defensive systems were the product of the Renaissance military architectural theories of the 16th century. In Háromszék County the effect of this Italian Renaissance bastion type can first be found on Castle Hill on the edge of Cófalva (Tufaläu) which was built by royal statute. Despite its provincial appearance one of the most perfect Italian-bastioned church castles was built in Árkos (Arcuç) during the 15th century, together with the outer wall ring of the church castle in neighbouring Illyefalva (Ilieni). Apart from the Old Italian-bastioned centralised fortifications (Árkos and Illyefalva) a rectangular castle wall with additional bastions can be found surrounding the Unitarian church in Nagyajta (Aite Mare) in Háromszék.

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