Vechea biserică a leproșilor din Sighișoara. Schița unui plan de salvare a unui monument
The old Church of the Lepers in Sighișoara. Outline of a Plan for Saving a Monument

Summary/Abstract: The Church of the Holy Spirit is located in the former Siechhof quarter of Sighișoara in the lower part of the city, outside the defensive walls of the fortress, on the right bank of the river Târnava Mare. It still preserves its Saxon name – Siechhof, which translates as „hospital for infirm people”. The Siechhof Church takes its name from the Leprosorium, a medieval shelter for lepers. Even today, the small church „Zum Heiligen Geist” (Holy Spirit) is still called the Siechhofkirche. This church, as a monument dating from the medieval period, is evidence over the centuries of a Saxon culture specific to the area, which left its mark on a wide area of Transylvania; it can only complete the unique overall image of the city of Sighișoara. Despite its architectural value, its interesting and fascinating history, and its place in the history of Sighișoara, the Church of the Lepers has undeservedly remained in the shadows. The situation of the Church of the Lepers in Sighișoara needs to be reviewed and the monument deserves a different fate. Let’s not forget the important role played in preserving the treasury of the Sighișoara fortress during the hard times of the past. Its proper restoration, a return to its origins by removing the altering elements and recovering the original architectural values, could lead to its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a special patrimony of the Transylvanian region, a material proof of an unique and unrepeatable culture, exposed to disappear in the next years, due to the exodus of the Saxon population, first in the 1950s, but especially since 1990. My article can be seen as a warning signal.

• Details
• Contents