Visiting hours for the main museums and attractions:
Monday: Closed (for most museums).
Tuesday – Friday: 09:00 - 17:30.
Saturday – Sunday: 10:00 - 17:30.
(Note: In the off-season or winter, the schedule may be shortened to 15:30).
Citadel Square. The current street structure of the Citadel with two main streets that meet in a central square is typical of the Renaissance and is a late achievement, probably after the great fire of 1676. In the past, Citadel Square was the place of trial and commercial market. In the square was the "Pillar of Infamy", a stone column with iron rings and a tribune on which trials were held. Most executions were carried out on the Hill of the Cross, outside the city. In the Citadel were the headquarters and workshops of the 4 major guilds of the city: Goldsmiths, Tailors, Carpenters and Locksmiths. On the Tower Square were the shops of Schenker, Philippi, Hendrich, Pilgram, Melzer and Cap de Bo. In the Citadel there were the 8 extremely deep wells (35-40m) and the grain pits (Kornkaule). In the basements of the Citadel Square were the city's over 100 pits, each with a capacity of 100 buckets of wheat. Only one person knew the exact location of the pits, the so-called "master of the grain pits", bound by an oath to keep the secret.
The Orthodox Church in Cornești. It is the first brick church in the Târnavelor area. It should be remembered that starting from the 14th century, Orthodox Romanians did not have the right to build stone churches. The little church in Cornești with elements of Gothic architecture was built between 1788 – 1808 on the site of an older wooden church. Restaurantu Steaua. Strada 1 Decembrie no. 12. The building of the Hotel Restaurant Steaua dates back to the 17th – 19th centuries, and was opened in 1912. The facade, restored in the style specific to the end of the 19th century (the new style), gives the building the value of a historical monument.
The Lepers' Church. The church of the former leper hospital in the Siechhoff district is first mentioned in 1570. Judging by its proportions, the church must be much older, having the characteristics of a community church from the 15th century. As it looks today, it is the result of repairs carried out in the 17th century, but despite the transformations it has preserved its original small dimensions, consisting of a reinforced nave with massive external buttresses and a polygonal apse to the east. The church has a unique element in Transylvania, an external stone pulpit applied to the western facade from which the priest preached to lepers who were forbidden by law to enter the churches.
The Church on the Hill. Due to its dominant position and massive appearance, it is the most important religious monument in the area. The construction of this church began in the mid-14th century (1345) and continued intermittently until 1525. The church overlaps and incorporates the two older buildings on the upper plateau of the hill: a Romanesque chapel and a quadrangular keep dating back to the mid-13th century. Placed under the patronage of St. Nicholas, it had a first phase of construction between 1345 - 1400. In 1429, the second phase began and lasted until 1525. The church was completely painted inside and partially outside. In 1776, it was decided to destroy the old painting on the condition that exact copies be made on parchment. Unfortunately, these copies are now lost.
Dominican Monastery Church. Documentarily mentioned in an indulgence of Pope Boniface VIII in 1298, the church is placed under the protection of St. Mary. The current form is the result of some amplifications and modifications that occurred between 1484 and 1677. It acquired its definitive form after the great fire of 1676. The church belongs to the "Gothic hall" category, with three equal naves and a rectangular choir, with a polygonal apse. From 1556, after the expulsion of the Dominican monks and the conversion of the Saxons to Lutheranism, it became the main church of the Citadel and has remained so to this day. Inside, a beautiful Baroque altar made in 1680 by two pilgrim artists (who also made the organ in the western balcony), a bronze baptismal font cast in 1440 and 35 small oriental carpets are preserved.
13. The Blacksmiths' Tower. Built in 1631 by Mayor M. Eisenburgher to replace the old Barbers' Tower, demolished in the same year, it is a massive rectangular construction attached to the enclosure wall. It is a flanking tower, which simultaneously protects the choir of the Monastery Church in case of siege.
12. Coopers' Tower. Demolished in 1886 to make way for the current Administrative Palace, this tower seems to have been among the oldest. The information preserved about it allows for an earlier dating, it being, probably, an old residential tower with romantic stylistic elements, datable to the 13th century.
10. The Cobblers' Tower. Located at the northwestern end of the Citadel Hill, this tower seems to have been built later on the site of an older one. Mentioned in 1521, rebuilt in 1650, modified in Baroque style in 1681, it was equipped with an artillery bastion on the north-east side.
11. The Locksmiths' Tower From the photographs that have survived, it appears that this tower was built on a rhomboidal plan and protected the old Franciscan church. It was demolished in 1894, when the current Catholic Church was built.
9. Tailors' Tower. One of the most powerful guilds of Sighișoara built the tower that protects the second entrance gate to the Citadel. The tower is crossed by two bold corridors, once equipped with iron bars (harses) and locked oak gates. It must have been much higher originally, but during the fire of 1676, the city's powder magazine on the upper floors exploded, destroying the tower.
7. The Coaters' Tower. Much more modest in size, square in plan, with a pyramidal tiled roof, it most likely dates back to the 14th century. Between the Butchers' Tower and the Coaters' Tower is the small gate called "Torle".
8. The Weavers' Tower. Demolished in 1858, its material was used to pave the Citadel. For a long time, this tower was used as a military prison.
6. Butchers' Tower The portion of the wall that descends the slope between the Frângherilor Tower and the Butchers' Tower has been preserved intact along its entire height in such a way that the construction phases can be "read". The wall was originally 4-5m high and was provided with crenellations for archery. In the 16th century, these crenellations were plugged and the wall was raised by another 3-4 meters and provided with narrow loopholes for firearms. In the 17th century, in some sections, the wall was raised by 1 meter and a new firing gallery was built. The Butchers' Tower probably dates from the 15th century and was built on an octagonal plan and later raised to a hexagonal plan. The small artillery bastion in front of it was also built at that time.
5. Frângherilor Tower In the northwest corner of the upper plateau is one of the oldest towers, which was probably part of the old refuge fortification, built in the 13th century. In modern times it was transformed into the cemetery guard's residence.
4. Goldsmiths' Tower After climbing the steep slope towards the Lyceum building, the enclosure wall reaches the upper plateau of the School Hill where, in the southwest corner, the Goldsmiths' Tower and the Castaldo Bastion (1551) once stood. The tower must have been one of the strongest, befitting the guild. It is said that its upper part was, in ancient times, ornamented with gold leaf. Together with the Castaldo Bastion, this tower controlled the most vulnerable spot of the Citadel. In 1706, the Curuti blew up the bastion and part of the walls. In 1809, the tower was struck by lightning and burned down. In 1863 it was partially demolished and transformed into a gymnasium, and since 1935 it has become a mortuary chapel.
3. Tinsmiths' Tower Located a short distance from the Tanners' Tower, to the south, this tower has the most expressive architecture. 25m high, it has a square base, a pentagonal middle part, an octagonal upper part, and a hexagonal roof. It is equipped with interesting shooting holes for arquebuses. In front of it is a beautiful artillery bastion, built around 1583. Between the Tanners' Tower and the Citadel, an interesting shooting gallery for riflemen was rebuilt in 1960, the only one of its kind in the Citadel. On the plaster of the Tinsmiths' Tower, you can still see traces of projectiles from past sieges.
2. Tanners' Tower The next tower on the southeast side of the Citadel is the small Tanners' Tower, a small square prism, equipped with small shooting holes and a single-pitched roof. Its simple shape recommends it as one of the oldest towers, probably preserved from the first fortification system of the city. This tower was joined in 1631 by the Barbers' Tower, moved from the area where the Blacksmiths' Tower is now located. This tower was later demolished.
The Clock and the Figurines. The first documentary mention of the clock in the tower is from 1648, when the clockmaker J. Kirchel from Konigsberg repaired and modernized the old clock at that time. The old figurines with symbols brought by the craftsman Kirchel burned down in 1676, but the same craftsman rebuilt everything. The current mechanism was bought from Switzerland in 196 and modernized with an electric motor in 1964 by the craftsmen Konrad, father and son. Through an innovation of theirs, the clock manages to work for another three hours after the power is cut off. On the outside, the clock is equipped with two huge dials (2.4m diameter) on each facade of the tower and the figurines installed in niches. Towards the Fortress there is the Goddess of Peace with an olive branch, doubled by the drummer who beats the quarters and hours in the bronze drum, the Goddess of Justice with a scale, the Goddess of Justice with a sword and the two angels, who represent Day and Night. In the past, justice and justice moved their heads from minute to minute. Towards the Lower Town there is the Executioner, who in the past carried an axe and the second drummer, and in the middle the rotating installation with the days of the week, painted wooden dolls, representing divinities from the Greco-Roman and Germanic pantheons, wearing symbols from medieval alchemy on their heads. The installation moves at midnight, bringing to the small window from the Lower Town, the figurine specific to the day that is beginning. The Clock Tower has been in the museum since 1898.
As it is preserved today, the architecture of Sighișoara is dominated by Renaissance and Baroque, being the expression of a constructive effort that occurred relatively late, in the 16th – 18th centuries, especially after the great fire of 1676. Of the old rural Gothic architecture, only the two important churches of the Citadel remained: the Church on the Hill and the Monastery Church. Despite the constructions of the 19th century, which partially modified the medieval architecture, the Citadel of Sighișoara continues to remain "the most beautiful and best preserved ensemble of medieval architecture in central and south-eastern Europe". Starting with the 14th century, as the economic development and the increase in the number of inhabitants increased, a defensive system was developed. There were several phases in the evolution of this system. In addition to the fortress of refuge built in the 13th century, a first enclosure was built on the top of the School Hill to protect the settlement on the lower plateau of the Citadel Hill, where the oldest monuments and main institutions of the city are located today. The defensive system, which later extended to encompass the entire Citadel Hill, was composed of a 930m long wall, 14 defensive towers and 5 artillery bastions. Of it, 9 towers, 2 bastions and part of the enclosure wall are still preserved today.
1. The Clock Tower. It is the tower that protects the main gate of the Citadel, being at the same time one of the great monuments of Transylvania, a symbol of the city of Sighișoara and an expression of the constructive pride of the people of Sighișoara, who called themselves "the rough ones", "the tough ones". In its current form it is presented as a rectangular prism with massive walls (2.35m thick at the base) with 4 levels and a balcony, having a Baroque roof. In total, together with the roof, the Clock Tower measures 64m high. The roof of the tower is the work of the two pilgrim craftsmen Veit Gruber from Tyrol and Filip Bonge from Salzburg, who together with the carpenter Valentin rebuilt it in 1677, after the great fire. The last general restoration of the tower took place in 1894 when multicolored glazed tiles were laid, new documents were placed in the large gilded globe at the top, the inscription and the two emblems were painted, and several adjacent buildings located in the space between the tower and the Monastery Church were demolished.
Daily schedule 07.00 -22.00 (Romanian time) Departure location - Brașov
Discover the beauties of Transylvania in an unforgettable adventure in the Romanian countryside by choosing a private tour or planning your own tour as you like. Call or send a message on whatsapp. 0040771238939
A website created in the WebWave website builder.