One of Eastern Europe’s best preserved fortified (and UNESCO listed) churches lies 16km northeast of Brasov. Surrounding a cross-shaped church (originally built by the Teutonic knights) are walls 12m high and 4m thick that protected the church and Prejmer’s inhabitants during times of war, when each family would retreat into its own room. Wheat and smoked hams - stored in the towers - were sufficient to support the whole village during long sieges. The entrance is a separate fortress with portcullis, complete with holes once used for pouring boiling tar on would be invaders. A deep moat and drawbridge once surrounded the fortress. Prejmer was often the front-line, it being the most north-eastern Saxon settlement, but although Prejmer was attacked more than 50 times by Mongols, Turks, Tartars, Cossacks and Moldavians, the fortified church was overwhelmed only once. The fortress is today home to an interesting museum displaying Saxon artefacts. The next town up the road, by the way, Intorsura Buzaului, is officially the coldest in Romania.