England

City Views
Dracula's House
Dracula's House Dinner
Vlad Dracula

Clock Tower
Covered Stairway
Roman Catholic Church
House with Stag
Monastery Church

Around the Hill
Cemetery
Church on the Hill
Towers
Rope Maker's Tower
Shoe Maker's Tower
Taylor's Tower

Town Hall
Our Hotel
Around the Town
Outside of Town Walls
Orthodox Cathedral
Train

Sighisoara / Halloween Night / Vlad Dracula's House / Halloween Night Dinner at Vlad Dracula's House

We arrived in Sighisoara in the late afternoon and had a few hours of sunlight and nice weather to explore the city. It was a good thing we arrived early as the next morning was foggy and misty. The town reminded us slightly of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany with it's old cobbled stone streets and buildings. The big difference is this town needs a lot of work to complete the restoration to bring it up to the nice condition Rothenburg is in. Many of the cobbled stone streets are mud with only remnants of cobbled stone showing through. The town is also much smaller and everywhere you look some type of construction seems to be going on. The parts of town and the buildings that have been restored look great and are very nice.

We arrived on Halloween evening and were able to get reservations at the Vlad Dracula House (Dracula's Birthplace). Even though it was Halloween, it was off tourist season reservations were not a problem. We had tried to reserve ahead of time, but did not have any luck corresponding with the restaurant via email.

We also took a nice stroll around the town after dinner at night for a nice Halloween experience.

This was the only town we ran into other American's. There were several American's on Dracula Tours. We try to avoid tour groups whenever possible as it is more fun to plan and tour on our own. This trip took some time to organize, but everything worked out exactly according to plan, so it was all worth it.

Our hotel was very nice and located right on the main plaza in Sighisoara. It's basically in the center of everything and we would definitely stay there again.

Hotel
Casa Saseasca	Telephone:	+40265772400
P-ta Cetatii nr. 12	Fax:	+40265772400
Sighisoara	E-mail:	office@casasaseasca.com
	Website:	www.casasaseasca.com

City Views: Various views of the city taken on our way out of town. We had great weather the first day and on the morning on the second it was foggy and slightly raining giving the city an interesting and eerie appearance.

Dracula's House: The Vlad Dracul House is located in the Citadel Square, close to the Clock Tower. This yellowish colored house is the place where Vlad Dracul (the father of Vlad the Impaler) once lived and where Vlad the Impaler was born. Vlad Dracul was a knight of the Order of the Dragon (hence his name - Dracul means Devil in Romanian). Today the house serves as a restaurant.

Interior of the house

Dracula's House - Dinner: Halloween night we had dinner at the restaurant in the house. The waiter was dressed as as Dracula as were his two guest vampires.

Part of the menu

Romanian cooked potatoes with gorgonzola cheese covered steak

A Halloween party in one of the large dinning rooms

Vlad Dracula: Statue of Vlad by the Town Hall.

Clock Tower: Among all Sighisoara's towers, the Clock Tower is the most impressive and the most picturesque. Its role was to be the main gate into the citadel and to house the town's council. It was built in the second half of the 14th century and expanded to 64m height in the 16th century. After a big fire in 1676 (when the town's gunpowder deposits exploded) the roof of the tower was restored to the present Baroque shape, and in 1894 the colorful tiles were added. The four small corner turrets (also seen in other Transylvanian towns) symbolize the fact that the town had judicial autonomy, and the "right of sword" (ius gladii) which was the right to decide on capital punishment. The clock was installed in the 17th century. The tower houses the town's History Museum which describes the Sighisoara's old life. The museum is spread on five levels; make your way to the wooden balcony at the top of the tower where you can look out over the town with its terra-cotta roofs and painted houses. On the way to the balcony one can also see the clock mechanism.

The figurines are moved by the clock's mechanism. On the citadel side we see the Goddesses of Peace holding an olive branch, accompanied by a drummer who is beating the hours in his bronze drum; above them are the Goddess of Fairness holding a balance and the Goddess of Justice with a spade accompanied by two angels representing Day and Night. At 6 AM the angel symbolizing the day comes out, marking the beginning of the working day and at 6 PM the angel symbolizing the night comes out carrying two burning candles in his hands and marking the end of the working day and the arrival of the evening.

Covered Stairway: Next to the School Street there is a covered wooden stairway named the "Covered Stairs" or "Schoolboys' Stairs". The stair was built in 1642 to facilitate the schoolchildren's way to the School on the Hill during winter. Originally the stairs had 300 steps, but today their number was reduced to 175. The Covered Stairway leads also to the Church on the Hill.

Roman Catholic Church

House with Stag: The House with Stag gets its name from a stag head fixed on the corner of the building. This type of construction is specific to the Transylvanian Renaissance of the 17th century. The house was recently restored and it looks very beautiful; the restoration revealed the external mural painting showing the stag's body and the inscription. Nowadays, the building houses a modern pension, a cafe-restaurant with traditional dishes and a Romanian-German cultural centre.

Monastery Church: The Monastery Church is located in the Citadel Square not far from the Clock Tower. The church, which is built in Gothic style of the hall-churches with 2 naves and 2 rows of pillars, belonged to the Dominican Monastery. The monastery used to be placed to the north of the church; it was built at the beginning of the 13th century and was demolished at the end of the 19th century. Its place was taken by the present town hall. The church was restored in the 15th century and then again after the big fire of 1676. The last repairs were done in 1894 and 1929 when the church acquired its present day look. The church holds valuable objects like a bronze front dating back to 1440, a stone door frame carved in 1570 in the Transylvanian Renaissance style and built into the northern wall of the church, a collection of 17th century oriental carpets donated by merchants and a fine altar piece from 1680. The organ was built in 1680 in Baroque style by the same artists that carved and painted the altar, the sculptor Johannes West and the pilgrim painter Jeremias Stranovius. The organ is used even today in many concerts organized in the church.

Around the Hill: Various photos of and around the hill.

Cemetery: The cemetery located on the hill.

Church on the Hill: This beautiful Gothic church dominates the hill at the southern end of the citadel. It can be reached by climbing the 175 steps of the covered wooden Scholars' Stairs which dates from 1642. The building of the church started in 1345 and ended in 1525, 180 years later. The church was recently restored by the same German foundation that restored the House with Stag. The church was completely painted on the inside but in 1776 it was decided to destroy the old painting provided that exact copies should be made on parchment. Unfortunately the copies were lost. The recent restoration brought back fragments of the late 15th century frescoes.

Sighisoara Towers: Around the citadel walls are the towers that the guilds erected during the 14th to 16th centuries to protect the town from Turkish raids. Each tower was built by one of the guilds and bears the name of the guild. 14 towers were erected but only 9 are still standing.

Rope Makers Tower: The Rope Makers' Tower is part of the old fortification on top of the hill. Its role was to defend - together with the Goldsmith's Tower - the north-west corner of the hill. It is believed that the tower is one of the oldest buildings in Sighisoara, dating from the 13th century. Its foundations are on the pre-Saxon citadel walls; the tower has a simple square plan. Nowadays the tower is the home of the guardian of the Evangelic cemetery on the hill.

Shoe Maker's Tower: The Shoemakers' Tower is located in the north-eastern part of the town; it was mentioned in documents dating from the mid 16th century but it was totally rebuilt in 1650 being one of the recent towers of the town. It bears the influence of the Baroque architecture, being short, with a hexagonal base with sides of different lengths. It has a picturesque look due to its roof which resembles a pointy helmet and which bears on one side a small tower of observation.

Taylor's Tower: The taylor's guild was the richest in town and this can be seen in the imposing tower that carries its name. Built in the 14th century, the tower was initially as tall as the Clock Tower but its upper part was destroyed in a fire in 1676, when the town's gunpowder deposit which was located in this place exploded. The Taylor's Tower is the second access road into the citadel, an entrance consisting of two vaulted galleries, which used to have huge oak gates with iron lattice. The tower was restored in 1935.

The tower from inside the walls

The tower from outside the walls

Town Hall

Our Hotel: Located on the main plaza, nicely painted in traditional Romanian style, views of the main plaza from our room's window.

Around the Town: We enjoyed walking the cobbled stone streets which were actually mostly mud with hints of cobbled stones from days past. The streets are lined with faded pink, green, and yellow houses.

This was a small coffee shop we stopped in for a drink and desert

A sign indicating 'No Trumpets'. Actually meaning no noise

A small cafe in town

Outside of the Town Walls: Views of the town outside the medieval city walls.

Orthodox Cathedral: The Orthodox Cathedral is located on the northern shore of the Tarnava Mare, and is accesible by a footbridge. The cathedral, which is dedicated to the Saint Trinity was built in 1934-37 in Byzantine style. The building is painted in black and white in an attractive way and features a dome and a tower.

When we arrived the church was locked, but the keeper of the church was there and told us to wait. He unlocked the door and let us in. We were the only ones in the church. He was German and very nice and from what I could understand he said the church was German Orthodox. He led us around the church and opened the doors to the back area behind the alter to show us a model of the church made of silver. He also let me photograph the ceiling.

Train: Another train.

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