Sighisoara is a small medieval town in Transylvania. Founded by Saxons in the 12th century, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1999.
It is one of the most romantic cities in Romania, with its intact ancient walls strengthened by many towers and bastions.
The Clock Tower is probably the most evocative. Built in 1556 and later modified, it’s 64 meters tall and it represents the main entrance to the citadel.
Climbing on its top an amazing view of the city can be enjoyed, while in the rooms where the city councils used to be held, a small historic museum has now been set up.
The clock was made in Switzerland and mounted in the 17th century. Its small moving mechanical statues have been carved in wood by an austrian craftsman and they symbolize the days of the week.
Not far from the Tower we can find the Church of the Dominican Monastery, which became a Lutheran Church in 1556. The monastic settlement it was part of has been demolished in 1888 to make room for the current City Hall.
The pretty and brightly colored craftsmen houses (goldsmiths, tailors, carpenters and tinsmiths) still preserve their workshops full of old tools.
A fascinating stairway covered by a wooden structure allows visitors to reach the hilltop, from which they can appreciate the pastoral landscape while being immersed in silence and brushed by the wind.
Here lies the so called Church-On-the-Hill, a huge gothic church which preserves fragments of the original 1480 frescos in its interiors.
Next to it the small but fascinating german cemetery can be found.
Walking down the cobblestones of Sighisoara’s picturesque streets, its secluded places and its characteristic steps will bring you back in time.
But the beauty of this small town is not its only tourist attraction: this is also the place where a very unsettling guy was born. His name was Vlad Tepes, also known as the Prince of Wallachia and posthumously dubbed “the Impaler”, and his reputation inspired Bram Stoker’s famous novel Dracula.
Count Dracula was born in 1431 in a small house close to the Clock Tower. The room where he has lived until 1435, along with a small Museum of Arms, can be visited for a small sum while a warm meal can be enjoyed at the restaurant on the ground floor.
Every year, during the last week of July, Sighisoara celebrates its origins by hosting the largest Medieval Festival in Romania. Its streets fill up with stands that sell hand-crafted items illustrating the crafts of the middle age, the weapons used by knights and the dresses worn by people of that time.
Letting yourself be carried away by the cheerfulness of the staged shows, concerts and dances that take place in this amazing town during this festival is almost inevitable.
Romania