The Cistercian Monastery in Cârța was founded at the beginning of the 13th century by monks from the Igris Abbey. It is the only Cistercian monastery in Romania and the only unofficial Saxon church in the country. It was probably the first church in the region to combine the Romanesque style with early Gothic elements.
The first monastic buildings were built of wood, so they have not survived to modern times. The oldest permanent building was a stone chapel from 1210-1215. You can still see its 10x8 m foundations. In addition, the monastery complex has a preserved facade of the first church from the beginning of the 14th century, an Evangelical church from the 14th-15th century and fragments of the parish house and evangelical buildings from the 13th to the 16th centuries.
Within the ruins of the church, there is a cemetery of German soldiers who died here in September 1916, unique on a national scale.