10 Reasons to visit Sighisoara ...

Romania sits in the South Eastern part of Central Europe, sharing borders with Hungary, the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria along with the Black Sea & the Ukraine. It is a land of beautiful castles, stunning natural scenery, many fascinating legends and friendly locals. When you come to Sighisoara you will experience the tranquil beauty of a land where time stands still. It has been described as Romania's most beautiful town. Shepherds tend their flocks, horse carts are more numerous than cars, and medieval villages retain their traditional character.

Located in the center of Romania is the medieval town of Sighisoara which is best known because it is the place of birth of Vlad Tepes, aka Count Dracula..

1. UNESCU Wolrd Heritage site.

2. The Birthplace of Vlad the Impaler

The Vlad Tepes Birth House is easy to find. Just look across the street from the Monastery Church and you will see a yellow building with a little arch on the left side. It is now a Restaurant and is also mentioned in our 10 things to do in Sighisoara as the both the historic facts and legends are such an important part of the town

3. Historic buildings

Sighisoara offers a vast amount of Historic buildings for avid sightseeers. The most famous tower of Sighisoara, which actually became a bench mark of the city, is the Clock Tower , known as the Tower of the Council, because it functioned as a town hall between the 14th-16th centuries.

4. The Medievil Festival

Every year Sighisoara holds a medieval festival in perfect harmony with the town's profile. In the citadel you can always see people dressed in medieval costumes, wearing traditional clothes and acting as if they lived 500 years ago. During the 3 days festival you may attend the plays with medieval profile in the most important squares.

5. The Famous Palinka or 'plumb brandy

Pálinka is a traditional type of brandy that is produced in Hungary and Romania (mostly in Transylvania, a region of Romania; in Romanian it is spelled pălincă). The origin of the word is Slavic stemming from the word páliť (in Slovak) which means to distill. Pálinka is almost always drunk in shot glasses straight up.

It is usually made from plums (Hungarian: "szilva", Romanian: "prune"), apples (Hungarian: "alma", Romanian: "mere"), pears (Hungarian: "körte", Romanian: "pere"), apricots (Hungarian: "barack", Romanian: "caise") and sometimes cherries (Hungarian: "cseresznye", Romanian: "cireşe"), and is double-distilled. The alcohol content varies, with 40% or less being the norm, as required by law, for stamped bottles available in stores. Another version (around 40% alcohol) is called ţuică in Romania. The most powerful kinds of pálinka are referred to as "kerítésszaggató" in Hungarian, which literally means "fence-tearer" and refers to a drunkard's loss of balance. These potent home-made, "házi (house) pálinkák", are not commercially available, but are none-the-less very common. In Hungary, one can ferment a batch of fruit mash at home, then take the fermented mash to distiller, who can then legally distill the mash to the desired strength, although home distillers exist.

Traditionally, pálinka was an important part of village peoples' diet. Their agricultural work in the fields was physically demanding and their meals consisted mainly of bread, lard, fatty bacon and onions. A shot of pálinka with its high alcohol content helped digest such an unhealthy diet. However, alcohol abuse was also common, such that a shepherd could boast of his ability to master one liter of palinka and still be able to tend his flock. Pálinka is still made in significant quantities, but alcoholics have since switched to the cheapest wines, or inexpensive "szezesital" - fruit juice with ethanol added, due to the premium price tag that pálinka commands.

You can do some Palinka tasting at TEO'S Cellar which is listed in our 10 things to do in sighisoara section

6. The Church on the Hill

High up on top of the hill, stands one of the most precious buildings of Transylvania. The church, which may have been here for more than 500 years.
The Saxon tradition was deeply connected with the belief that God has a central role in everyday life. The position of the church, in the centre of town, at the citadels’ highest point symbolizes the importance of god and religion for the townspeople. The worldly parallel to the Church on the Hill is situated on the Lower Plateau - the Clock Tower.
It ruled, with its clock, upon the work and market life of the Citadel Square and the Lower Town. These two poles of medieval life complemented each other perfectly and remind us today of the principle of olden times: Ora et Labora (praying and working). The Chruch on the Hill is featured in the Digiduide.ro

7. The only crypt in Transylvania

Beneath the choir in the church on the hill , lays the only crypt in Transylvania. Situated at the end of a gloomy tunnel, 10 meters long and 2 meters wide is a hall with a length of 10 m and a breadth of 6 m. Within the walls of the tunnel to the crypt, are 60 recesses, where the Saxons buried the wealthiest inhabitants of the citadel. The shape and atmosphere of the old cellar rooms suggests, that these are the remains of the Romanesque chapel, on which the mighty Church on the Hill grew over the last 700 years. The building is now the main church of the German Evangelical Parish. You can find out much more about the crypt with Digiduide.ro

8. The Haunted covered stairs

These old wooden stairs are rumoured to be haunted, but are well worth seeing. The covered stairs will take you right to the top of the citadel and to the the German School at the top. The pupils had to climb this hill every day, regardless of weather conditions so in 1642 the mayor Johann Both decided in to construct the Covered Stairs (also called Scholars Stairs) to minimize the strain of climbing the hill. Originally it had 300 steps but in 1842 it received its current look with only 174 steps.

These stairs are suffering today because of the trees in the gardens next to it. Unfortunately the trees from the gardens around the covered stairs are affecting the structure. The falling leaves in the autumn have covered the wooden shingles which have slowly started to rot. Moss and mould now appears. Nevertheless, the way up to the School Hill is safe.

9. Biertan

Very close to Sighisoara is another UNESCO's World Heritage site, the village of Biertan with its fortified church. Biertan is one of the first German settlements in Transylvania placed between the two "Seats" (Medias and Seica) in the Andreean Diploma from 1224. The church is probably the biggest and most impressive of the fortified churches that the Saxons built in Transylvania. It stands on a hill in the middle of the village and it is surrounded by three fortified walls, six towers and three bastions. The village of Biertan was mentioned for the first time in an official document in 1283. The church preserved its furniture dating from the end of the Gothic age, including a beautiful Gothic altar. The door to the vestry has an intricate system with 15 locks. The room of the vestry shielded the treasure of the church and of the village when there was a siedge.

Biertan is an important craft, wine-growing area. Biertan was the center of the Evangelic Diocese for over 300 years.
Since the Middle Ages in the downtown Biertan had a commun market used as a weekly fair until the World War II. In the 50s the market was turned into a park, and the place for the weekly fair was moved somwhere else.This fair was held twice a year,on 21st October and on 14th April.

10. A step back in time - Traditional Transportation

If your tired of cars and motorways then then you will love Sighisoara and the surrounding areas. As you go through the villages you will see people working their lands as almost everything is done by hand or with horse-power. Most inhabitants of a village still go around in their horse-carts.