Ațel is a commune in Sibiu County in the Târnavelor Plateau, located 12 km from Mediaș and formerly known as Otel, after its name in German Hetzeldorf. Documentary attested in the year 1283, under the Latin name Villa Echelini (Ecel, later), the locality was one of the most flourishing Saxon communities in the Mediaşului Chair. Under the rule of King Matei Corvin, the settlement acquired the right to organize a weekly fair, and from a legal point of view, to condemn the death.   What you can do at Azel: · A visit to the evangelical church of Azel built in the last part of the century. XIV (ca. 1380) and fortified two centuries later. Over time, the construction has undergone a series of changes; at present the construction has an altar in "baroque rococo" style dating from 1792 (built by Yohann Folbarth from Sighisoara). o Can be visited on a programming basis. The keys are to Mr. Banyai Jenö tel .: +40/269/515 710, address: Azel, no. 171 · To cross the threshold of the “Sf. Trinity "from Azel built in Romanesque style in 1784, which retains the original bell intact. · Go back to the Orthodox church "Sf. Nicolae "from Azel, built in 1863 and whose icons on the canvas are painted by the same painter originally from Dumbrăveni, who worked at the Church of St. Trinity in the village. + "more details": The evangelical church is a basilica with four beams, bell tower, transept, choir and sacristy. Only the main nave, the tower and the outer walls of the edifice were preserved from the original building. The church underwent modifications in the 15th-16th centuries, when a new sacristy and a grandstand were built, on the west side of the central nave. Also, the tower was modified and the other ships were rebuilt. The building has more details of carved stone, with stylistic peculiarities characteristic of the XIV-XVI centuries, works of a well-known Siberian stone master Andreas Lapicida. Over the course of half a century (between 1605-1658), the church suffered several damage, including a devastating fire. However, two bells were kept, of which a larger one with the inscription "O rex glory Jesu Christi came as peace". The gate tower is placed to the southeast, being built on four floors and fitted with oak and ridge doors. This tower also worked as a bell tower, on the third floor there is a room for this purpose, with window and latrine. At the demolition of the north tower, in 1959, a short vaulted tunnel was discovered, made of brick, which made the underground connection between the tower and the cellar of the nearest peasant house. The rooms in the fortification of the church have been used since 1397 as a school premises, the first building intended exclusively for Saxon education being built only in 1872. The current school, the only one otherwise in the commune (together with the two kindergartens) were built during the interwar period. In 2003, at the accomplishment of 720 years of documentary attestation of the locality, the Heroes Monument was revealed, the names of several Romanian and German heroes being inscribed. The most important personality of the place is also of German nationality. This is Norbert Kartmann, President of the Parliament of the Land of Hessen. In the house where he was born and children (and he visited in 2005) has been operating since 1991, an old asylum.   The Saxon school dates from 1397, but the name of the first teacher is kept from 1462, from Sigismund's document - rektor parohialis. As a school premises, the rooms in the fortification of the church were used. Due to the increase in the number of pupils, in 1872 the first building exclusively for the Saxon school was built. In the interwar period a second school of Saxons was built as well as the Romanian state school.