Sighișoara
Sighișoara – The birthplace of Count Dracula
The third day we start our trip to Brașov with a stop at Sighișoara for coffee and sightseeing, the birthplace of Vlad Draculea, also known as Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler), ruler of the province of Wallachia from 1456 to 1462 and the hero of the book ‘Count Dracula’ by Bram Stoker. Vlad Dracul, the father of Vlad Draculea, was the one who named Sighișoara in 1431 for the first time.
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| Paved street with cafès |
The origins of Sighișoara go back to Roman times, when the first fortification was called Sandava and was built during the 1st century AD by the Dacians, ancient Romanians. The Romans called it Castrum Stenarum. During the 12th century, the Saxons built a new citadel, which was named Schäßburg or Castrum Sex (Fort Six). The years past, and now the town is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe. It is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and has nine towers, paved streets, colorful houses, and beautiful churches.
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| Paved street with colorful houses |
The visitor can walk to the streets of the town and visit Vlad Draculea’s house, the Church on the Hill with its 500-year-old frescoes, the 13th-century Venetian House, the Church of the Dominican Monastery, and the 14th-century Clock Tower.
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| Clock Tower |
Sighișoara is the best-known town of Transylvania, even if it is not the biggest or richest of the seven Saxon walled citadels. The visitors have the feeling that they travel back to medieval times with the alleys, the staircases, the towers, the squares, and the turrets.
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| Sighișoara |
Sighișoara
Citadel - Cetatea
Sighisoarei
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| Sighișoara's townhall |
For several centuries, Sighișoara was a military and political stronghold. From the 14th to the 16th centuries, the Saxons built towers around the citadel walls to protect the town from Turkish raids.
The towers stored ammo and food supplies and were provided with windows for cannons, shells, and arrows. Initially, there were fourteen towers and five artillery bastions, and now they have saved nine towers and two bastions.
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Sighisoara
Citadel Towers
- Turnurile
Cetatii Sighisoara
The Clock Tower -Turnul Ceasului
One
of the best attractions is the Clock Tower, also
known as the Council Tower, built in the second half of the 14th
century and expanded in the 16th century. The four small corner
turrets on top of the tower symbolized the judicial autonomy of the
Town Council, which could apply, if necessary, the death penalty.
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| Clock's Tower |
This
intricate two-plate clock has been working continuously since the
Middle Ages. The
Clock Tower served as the gathering place for the town Council until
1556. Since 1899, it houses the History Museum. From the top of the Clock Tower, visitors can see the
entire Old Town with its intact, red-tiled roof and 16th century Saxon
houses lining the narrow cobblestone streets. Today, merchants and
craftsmen still go about their business, as they did centuries ago.
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| Old Town of Sighisoara |
Bootmakers' Tower -Turnul Cizmarilor
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| Bootmaker's tower |
Bootmaker's tower is
located in the north-east of the citadel,
dating
from the mid-16th century, but it was rebuilt from scratch in 1650. It bears baroque
architectural
influences, and
despite
its low height, the tower is interesting due to its hexagonal base, an outer diameter of 10 meters long, and a roof hosting two
small and elegant observation towers, one facing South-east and one
North-west. Its roof, resembling
a pointy helmet, houses a small observation tower.
Ropemakers' Tower - Turnul Franghierilor
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| Ropemaker's tower |
Dating
from the 13th century and standing above the pre-Saxon citadel walls,
Ropemakers' Tower is one of the oldest buildings in Sighisoara. Its
role was to defend, together with the Goldsmiths' Tower, the
northwest corner of the hill. Nowadays, the tower is the home of the
caretaker of the Saxon cemetery, located next to the Church on the
Hill.
Tailors' Tower - Turnul Croitorilor
This
imposing tower was raised in the 14th century by the richest guild in
town. Initially as tall as the Clock Tower, its upper part was
destroyed in the 1676 fire, when the town's gunpowder deposits,
located here, exploded. Tailors' Tower, with its two vaulted
galleries which used to have huge oaken gates with an iron lattice,
also serves as the second access road into the citadel.
Sighișoara Citadel Square - Piata Cetatii
This small square is at the heart of the citadel. It was the area for markets, fairs, public executions and witch trials. Only
goldsmiths, tailors, carpenters and tinsmiths were allowed to have
their guilds and workshops inside the citadel. Guilds were active
until 1875.
Church
of the Dominican Monastery - Biserica
Manastirii Dominicane
Not far from the Clock Tower stands the Church of the Dominican
Monastery. The church was first attested in a document in 1298 as part of a
Dominican monastic settlement, and it became the Saxons' main
Lutheran church in 1556. The monastic complex was demolished in 1888, and
its place was taken by the present town hall. Only the church has
remained in the original structure.
Built in late gothic style
typical of the hall-churches, with two naves and two rows of pillars,
the church was restored in the 15th century and then again in the
16th century after the big fire of 1676. The last repairs were done
in 1894 and 1929, when the church acquired its present-day look.
Inside the church, you can admire some valuable artistic objects,
such as the bronze font dating back to 1440, the stone door frame
carved in 1570 in Transylvanian Renaissance style and built into the
northern wall of the church, the collection of 16th and 17th century
Oriental carpets, a baroque organ, and a fine altarpiece from 1680.
Classical and baroque concerts are often held here.
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| Church on the Hill |
Church
on the Hill
- Biserica
din Deal (Bergkirche
in German)
To the north of the Clock Tower stands one of the most representative gothic-style structures in Transylvania, the Church on the Hill, and its location is on the top of the citadel's highest hill. First mentioned in a document in 1345 and superposed on a former Roman basilica, its construction lasted almost 200 years.
Initially a Catholic church, it became the main church of the Saxon inhabitants of Sighisoara, who had shifted from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism after the 1547 Reform.
Initially a Catholic church, it became the main church of the Saxon inhabitants of Sighisoara, who had shifted from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism after the 1547 Reform.
The church was completely painted on the inside, but in 1776, the majority of the old murals were destroyed, and a recent restoration brought back fragments of some of the original late 15th century frescoes.
Beautifully restored fragments of murals from the late 1400s and renaissance-style furniture can be admired in the church. The gothic altarpiece dedicated to St. Martin dates from 1520 and was painted by Johann Stoss, the son of the renowned sculptor, Veit Stoss from Nürnberg. The three wood-carved coats of arms, found in the anterooms of the side naves, belonged to Mathias Corvin and his wife, Beatrix, the Transylvanian prince Stephen Bathory of Nyir (1479–1493), and the king of Poland and Hungary, Wladislav the 3rd. The church is reached via a covered wooden staircase known as Scara Scolarilor (Students' Staircase covered stairs leading to the school and church). Opposite the church is the main entrance of the serene Saxon cemetery (open daily 8 a.m.–8 p.m.).
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| Student's stair |
Students'
Stair
-
Scara
Scolarilor
Students' Stair (or Schoolboys' Stair) is located at the end of Strada
Scolii
(the School Street) and connects the citadel's Main Square
with the Church and School on the Hill.
It is built in 1642 and it is a covered stairway which gives
access from the school to the church and protects school children and
churchgoers from the elements. It was initially meant to connect the
lower section and the upper section of the citadel. 176 steps of the
initial 300 are still in use today.
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| Student's stair |
Vlad Dracul House - Casa Vlad Dracul or Vlad Draculea
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| Restaurant at the ground floor of the Vlad Dracul's house |
Vlad Dracul's House is located in the Citadel Square, close to
the Clock Tower. This ochre-colored house is the place where Vlad
Tepes, the inspiration for Bram Stoker's famous Dracula, was born in
1431 and lived with his father, Vlad Dracul, until 1435 when they
moved to Targoviste. A wrought-iron dragon hangs above the entrance.
The ground floor of the house serves as a restaurant, while the first
floor is home to the Museum of Weapons.
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| Ochre-colored Vlad Dracul's house, Green-colored Venetian house |
While in medieval times dragons served as symbols of independence, leadership, strength, and wisdom, the biblical association of the devil with the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve gave the snake-like dragon connotations of evil.
Benefiting
from the friendship of the Hungarian king, Sigismund I of Luxembourg,
Vlad II Dracul, the father of Vlad Tepes, spent his youth at the
royal court and later distinguished himself as a brave knight in the
fight against the Ottoman Empire. Draculea,
the family name of Vlad Tepes (the Impaler), means Son
of the Dragon.
Venetian
House
- Casa
Venetiana
Built in the 16th century, the green-colored house was later restored in Venetian gothic style with the upper part of the windows forming a three-lobe arch.
Built in the 16th century, the green-colored house was later restored in Venetian gothic style with the upper part of the windows forming a three-lobe arch.
Hilltop Viewpoint
Around
30 minutes from the Historic Center of Sighișoara there is an empty
hill with
an amazing, panoramic
view. You can find it easily on a map called “mic
punct de belvedere,”
which translates to “small viewpoint.” With
this beautiful view, we say
farewell to the birthplace of Vlad Draculea and continue our trip to Brașov. If
you’re touring through Transylvania, Sighișoara is a must-visit
destination.
Continue reading about our adventure to Transylvania!
