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| Sibiu - The City | | 
| | The Medieval Fortress of Sibiu as large as the Fortress in Vienna at a certain moment, is the greatest medieval monument in Transylvania, consisting of walls, fortifications and towers which surrounded it from all sides. Some of these were so well preserved that one can easily imagine what the Fortress looked like 600 years ago. The wall on the left side is the best preserved, as it was also the most fortified, taking into consideration that the attacks came from this direction. This is right as the Turks and the Tartars frequently attacked Transylvania from Wallachia and Moldavia while these latter two were under the rule of some princes who served the Ottoman Empire.
On the east side there are also three of the best preserved defense towers as it follows:
- the Arquebusiers` Tower built in the 14th century on an octagon-shaped foundation;
- the Carpenters` Tower stone-built in the 15th century;
- the Potters` Tower built in the same century as the Carpenters` Tower is square-shaped and was bound to the latter one through a stone wall.
Beside these there were:
- the Thick Tower built in the 16th century, where in 1778 there was the Second Theatre, after the First in !769;
- the `Haler` Bastion built in1552 where the north side of the Fortress begins;
- the `Soldish` Bastion built between 1622 and 1627 as a defense system of the upper city;
- the `Gunpowder` Tower and the Tanners` Tower were the only that remained erect in the lower city which collapsed along the centuries;
- the `Gunpowder` Tower was built at the middle of the 16th century and hosed a gunpowder warehouse;
- the `Tanners` Tower was defended by the tanners` guild and was built in 1638.
Among the well kept places in the medieval city which had an important role in the daily life one must mention the `Stairs Passage` which bound the `upper city` to the `lower city` through two branches of stairs and arcades which surround the walls of the fortress from around the Evangelical Church. The stairs built in the 13th century still preserve their original aspect. The south wing ends in the `Stairs Tower`, the oldest building of Sibiu dating from the 13th century.
Just like in any other medieval city there were places which monopolized the social or the economical life of the community. Such locations usually were the markets and the old `Cibinium` was not an exception either: there were two such markets, `The Small Market` and `The Big Market`.
In the `Small Market` there were the artisans` houses and workshops. The Market is bound to the `Big Market` by narrow tunnels and stove-paved narrow small streets. The medieval buildings are still preserved in their original form. On the south side of the Market there are the Catholic Church and the City Hall Tower and many small shops. On the east side there is a complex of buildings built in the Gothic style (which are now historical monuments) and near them there is the Pharmaceutics Museum (in a building where the first chemist`s shop in Transylvania was founded in 1568).
The `Big Market` stands for the historical centre of the city and it was historically first mentioned in 1411 as a cereals market. Almost a century passed until it became the centre of the Fortress where meetings and public executions took place. It was then called `Grosser Platz` (the Big Market), but along the centuries it also had other names such as `King Ferdinand Market` (between the two World Wars) ? a tribute to the king under whose rule the great 1918 Union occurred - , or `the Republicii Market`. In 1990 it got its original name. This market is the largest in Transylvania: 142 metres long and 93 metres wide, its south side being a UNESCO-protected monument due to its unique architectural style.
There are many important buildings here which belonged to the notabilities of the city such as:
- the Heller House built in the 15th-16th centuries which preserves some of the original elements (the Hellers` coat of arms ? the family lived here for about 345 years);
- Fileck`s House which is one of the oldest buildings in the city;
- The former mayor Georg Hecht`s House in the 15th century which housed the German University ( a sort of a Parliament of the Transylvanian Saxons) beginning with 1821;
- The first City Hall, near the Roman-Catholic Vicarage;
- Weidner Reussner House which preserves the original portal in the Gothic style from 1652;
- The Bank built in 1905 in the Art Nouveau style, the Blue House where theatre plays were performed and the impressive Brukenthal Palace make a beautiful whole of the architectural complex in the `Big Market`.
In 1376 Sibiu was a very well developed city with 19 artisan guilds and 25 professions. The city also had famous guests such as the King of Sweden Charles II who stopped here during an incognito visit in 1714. The city of Sibiu was a permanent cradle of culture as many men of letters lived here: Nicolae Olahus, Samuel Brukenthal, Simion Barnutiu, George Baritiu or Ioan Slavici. In 1769 the cultural life of the city became richer as the first playhouse opened here at Baron Moringer`s residence, and in 1800 Joseph Haydn`s `Genesis` was interpreted by amateur instrumentalists. Proud of its cultural heritage, the city of Sibiu follows the same line even nowadays as some of the most important museums in Transylvania and Romania, the `Brukenthal Museum`, the `Astra` Museum and three more ethnographic museums were founded here. | |
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