Sighisoara is situated in the center of Romania at 121 km nothwest of  Brasov, 328 km  northwest of Bucharest. Long before you reach this enchating place, you can see Sighisoara's towers and spires from a distance.        

    Sighisoara, is famous by its architecture dating from 14^th century.You have to walk up from the city to the medieval citadel.  The ocher-colored house named "Casa Vlad Dracula", where the Vlad the Impaler was born, better known as Vlad III Dracula, once lived, is now a cozy restaurant. You can find inside Gothic-style furniture and serve good soups and traditional Romanian dishes.
The convered stairway with 176 steps was made in 17^th century. Museums, the Church on trop of the Hill (14^th century) and the Monastery Church (15^th century) both built in the Gothic style are attractions for numerous tourists.

Founded by German craftsmen and merchants, known as the Saxons of Transylvania, the historic centre of Sighisoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small, fortified, medieval town, which played an important strategic and commercial role at the edges of central Europe for several centuries.

Historic places:       The Clock Tower dates from the 14th century. The tower houses the town's History Museum. The clock still works, complete with rotating painted wooden figures, one for each day of the week. From the wooden gallery at the top of the tower you can look out over the town with its terra-cotta roofs and painted houses. Towering over the modern town is a medieval citadel that must be among the loveliest and least spoiled in Europe. Walking up from the city center of Sighisoara, you can enter the citadel through the 60-meter-tall clock tower.(built in 1360).

Sighisoara is an outstanding testimony to the culture of the Transylvanian Saxons, a culture that is coming to a close after 850 years and will continue to exist only through its architectural and urban monuments.   Sighisoara is an outstanding example of a small fortified city in the border region between the Latin-oriented culture of central Europe and the Byzantine-Orthodox culture of south-eastern Europe. The apparently unstoppable process of emigration by the Saxons, the social stratum which had formed and upheld the cultural traditions of the region, threatens the survival of their architectural heritage as well.

"Pearl of Transilvania", "marvellous and charming town", "Citadel of a rear picturesque ", having been admired since the XVI-th century by famous figures of the period, The Citadel of Sighisoara still arouses visitor's admiration.      Considered to be "the most beautiful and complete medieval architectural ensemble from Romania" and "the most beautiful inhabited citadel from Europe", the town-museum Sighisoara offers the modern visitors the rare opportunity of going back in time.....to the medieval era.

The Sighisoara Citadel has been first mentioned in a document in , under the name of CASTRUM SEX( castrum-fortress, sex=six) . In the medieval latin that meant "The 6-th Citadel"  in the hierarchy of the 7 german citadels from Transilvania ( Siebenburgen).     In the XIV-th century the citadel developed fast: in 1367 Sighisoara becomes  a town( Civitas de Segusvar).   The defensive system, consisting of a 930m long wall, 14 defense towers, and 5 artillery bulwarks seems to be built up later, in the XV-th century, under the Ottoman pressure. Nowadays, out of this defense system there are still 9 towers, 2 bulwarks, and a part of the wall..            If you came in Romania in August don't miss the "Medieval Art and Theatre Festival" that took place one week every year in the "Pearl of Transylvania" (Sighisoara). Actors wearing medieval clothes play drama in the citadel and music bands play on an installed stage in the center of the city. Beer and "mici" (traditional prepared meat) are provided by all the brand name beer factories from Romania during the festival.                                                 Copyright (c) 1999  - Agrotour - Toate drepturile rezervate