Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Sighișoara (Romania). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Sighișoara Citadel, Monastery Church, and Clock Tower. Also, be sure to include Butchers' Tower in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Sighișoara (Mureș).
Table of Contents
Sighișoara Citadel
Also known as: Cetatea Sighișoara
UNESCO Medieval citadel with 9 towers. The Historic Centre of Sighișoara is the old historic center of the town of Sighișoara, Romania, built in the 12th century by Saxon settlers. It is an inhabited medieval citadel that, in 1999, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its 850-year-old testament to the history and culture of the Transylvanian Saxons.
Birthplace of Vlad III the Impaler (in Romanian Vlad Țepeș), Sighișoara hosts, every year, a medieval festival where arts and crafts blend with rock music and stage plays. The city marks the upper boundary of the Land of Sachsen. Like its bigger brothers, Sibiu (Hermannstadt) and Braşov (Kronstadt), Sighișoara exhibits Medieval German architectural and cultural heritage that was preserved even during the Communist period.[1]
Address: Piata Cetatii Nr.1, 545400 Sighisoara
Monastery Church
The Monastery Church, also known as the Church of the Dominican Monastery, is a Gothic church formerly part of a medieval Dominican monastery in Sighişoara, Romania. The monastery was erected in 1289, and demolished in 1888. The monastery was one of a network planned by Paulus Hungarus throughout the Kingdom of Hungary to act as a bulwark against heresy. Hungarian nobleman Leonard Barlabássy gave the church an endowment.[2]
Address: Strada Cetății, 545400 Sighișoara
Clock Tower
Also known as: Turnul cu Ceas din Sighișoara
Historical landmark in Sighișoara, Romania. In every fortification system there is one fortress that dominates the others: the master-tower. The Clock Tower of Sighișoara is the main entry point to the citadel, opposite guarded by Tailors' Tower. With its 64 meters of height, the tower is visible from almost every corner of the city from Mures County, its purpose was to defend the main gate of the citadel and also served as the town hall until 1556. Now It's considered one of the most expressive clock tower in the whole Transylvania.[3]
Address: Strada Turnului, 545400 Sighisoara
Butchers' Tower
Tower in Sighișoara, Romania. The Butchers' Tower is one of the nine towers located in the Citadel of Sighişoara, belonging to Mureș County in Romania. The Butcher's Tower was built in late 15th century. Originally, the tower was shaped in an eight-sided prism, but in the 16th century it was rebuilt on a hexagonal plan and was raised with the specific purpose of enlarge the field of view over the small bastion built right in front of it. The tower has three floors with five loopholes and the access was made, in the past, by the fortress wall gallery. Fortunately, the fire from 1676 did not affect the tower. The latter together with the bastion had a great importance in the defense of the western side of the Citadel.
Documents from 1680 mention that the tower hosted five arquebuses, few cannonballs and quintals of gunpowder.[4]
Holy Trinity Church
Also known as: Biserica Sfânta Treime din Sighișoara
Orthodox church in Sighișoara, Romania. The Holy Trinity Church, Sighişoara is a Romanian Orthodox Church located on the northern bank of the Târnava Mare River, Sighişoara, Romania. As the seat of an archpriest and not a bishop, it is a church and not technically a cathedral, but is commonly referred to as such.[5]
Address: Strada Andrei Șaguna, 545400 Sighișoara
Tailors' Tower
Tower in Sebeș, Romania. The Tailors' Tower, belonging to Mureș County in Romania was built in the 14th century. It is located opposite to the Clock Tower and it guards the second gateway into the Citadel of Sighişoara.
This tower is considered one of the most beautiful and impressive towers of the fortress due to its massiveness and simplicity. The two passages at the bottom suggest an early dating, probably in the late 12th or 14th century. The two gates were in ancient railings that slides vertically.[6]
The Hill Church
Also known as: Biserica din Deal din Sighișoara
The Church on the Hill is an architecturally significant church located in Sighişoara, Mureș County in Romania.This church is the most important monument of religious architecture in Sighisoara and is one of the great churches of Transylvania, being the third largest. Located at an altitude of 429 meters, on the Hilltop School, the church dominates by its massiveness the entire city and it is visible from a great distance almost from all directions. Most researchers believe that a number of architectural details such as slightly misaligned position of the bell-tower and choir demonstrate an evolution in stages, over several centuries, in the construction of this church.[7]
Address: Strada Cojocarilor 3, 545400 Sighișoara
Boot Makers' Tower
The Bootmakers' Tower is located in the north-east of the Citadel in Sighişoara, belonging to Mureș County in Romania. The building has baroque architectural influences. Despite its low height, the tower is interesting due to its pentagon plan, an outer diameter of 10 meters long and a roof hosting two small and elegant observation towers, one facing South-east and one North-west. The current tower was built in 1681 on the site of a previous destroyed tower.[8]
Breite Oak Tree Reserve
Breite Nature Reserve is a 74-hectare nature reserve in Sighișoara, Romania, a place with a special emotional and cultural background. The largest grassland plateau in Europe, the Breite Reserve has attracted visitors for hundreds of years.
The Breite Plateau near Sighisoara is the largest, most representative and well-preserved wooded habitat with hornbeam and oak trees in central and eastern Europe. Breite is a culturally modified forest that carries the local Transylvanian Saxons culture over eight centuries and a rich and varied nature. Both in terms of natural heritage and as a lineage of Sighisoara, Breite is a unique value in Europe. The oaks from Breite are the oldest living things in Sighisoara: some of them were present at the foundation stone of the fortress settlement and survived the tumultuous events in the history of Transylvania, from wars and changes of sovereignty, to fires and earthquake.
On Breite live over 500 trees aged between 200 and 800 years. Each is a microcosm which provides food and shelter for dozens of other species of animals and plants and their special landscape attracts tourists from all over the world. Here one can find 639 trees. But oaks are not only treasure on the natural plateau. In total 115 species of vertebrates, most protected by law, and dozens of other species have been identified here. The forest on the Breite Park plateau is the highest in the Saxon region and in most of Central and Eastern Europe.
The altitude is between 504 and 530 m (1,654 and 1,739 ft) above sea level, rising gradually from north to south. The plateau has an elongated shape, the distance between the two ends being 4 km (2.5 mi) the northern end of the plateau is close to the city of Sighisoara. Access is possible down the hill district Corneşti Visia (Himmelswiese), or "Pit" Ipătescu Ana neighborhood. Access by car is on Route 14, which connects the town of Sighisoara to Mediaș from point "Hula Danes". On the left, the Sighisoara 4 km (2.5 mi), 2 km (1.2 mi) starts a forest road that climbs the plateau.[9]
Address: Breite Plateau, 545400 Sighisoara
Tin Smiths' Tower
Museum in Sighișoara, Romania. The Tinsmiths' Tower is one of the nine towers located in the citadel of Sighișoara, belonging to Mureș County in Romania.Tinsmith's Tower has the most expressive architecture: 25 meters high, the tower starts with a square base, right after the brick trunk stands in pentagonal shape and above suddenly widens and becomes octagonal. The roof, slightly unbalanced, has a hexagonal plan and the woodwork inside is a veritable masterpiece of carpenters of Sighisoara. The Tin Tower, together with the Clock Tower, has an exceptional defensive position.[10]
Address: Str. Zidul Cetatii, 545400 Sighisoara
Rope Makers' Tower
The Tanners' Tower in Sighişoara, belonging to Mureș County, Romania, was built around the 13th –14th centuries in the southeastern part of the city. It has a square plan, with a small, sloping roof in a single direction. This tower was supposed to guard and protect the courtyard of the Clock Tower.
Shape and position retracted behind the wall recommend it as one of the old towers, perhaps even the first one of the city. This tower with archaic aspect was not affected in any way by the fire in 1676. To defend the tower, tanneries used to have: a double arquebuse as well as a simple one, a musket, three hundred pounds of gunpowder and some cannonballs[11]
Address: Strada Scarii, 545400 Sighisoara