Sighisoara Town and Medieval Festival

Sighisoara (Hungarian: Segesvár, German: Schäßburg, Latin: Castrum Sex) is a city and municipality on the Târnava river in Transylvania, Romania. It is in Mures County.
Central Sighisoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city; it has been listed by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Each year, a Medieval Festival takes place in the old citadel in July.
For 15 years, on summer there is organized the three days Medieval Art Festival. It is difficult to present in a few words the multitude of tourist attraction points of this town: towers, bastions, churches and houses. However, the most important are considered to be Turnul cu Ceas (the Clock Tower) – the entrance gate in the citadel – which is also a symbol of Sighisoara, Turnul Cositorarilor (the Tin Coaters Tower), Turnul Macelarilor (the Butcher’s Tower), Turnul Cizmarilor (the Shoemaker’s Tower), Turnul Croitorilor (the Taylor’s Tower), Turnul Cojocarilor (the Furrier’s Tower), Turnul Fierarilor (the Blacksmith’s Tower), Turnul Franghierilor (the Rope Makers’ Tower), Turnul Tabacarilor (the Tanner’s Tower), Biserica Manastirii (the Church of the Monastery), Biserica din Deal (the Church on the Hill), Casa Venetiana (the Venetian House), Casa cu Cerb (the House with Antlers), Casa de pe Stanca (the Cliff House), Casa cu Sindrila (the House with Shingle), Casa Vlad Dracul (the house attributed to Vlad Tepes) and so on.


Biserica din Deal (The Church on the Hill) is the only old crypt Evangelic church in Transylvania, and its walls contain 60 tombstones. Inside the church there is also a collection of altars, brought from Germany, and a collection of bottom drawers. On the walls of the church there is also a fresco dating from 1380 which presents the Holy Trinity as a person with three faces. In the Church of the Monastery there is also a collection of oriental carpets, and an organ concert takes place here every week as well.



Casa Vlad Dracul (Vlad Dracula’s House)


Is one of the oldest buildings, and it is placed on the left side of the little square in front of the Turnul cu Ceas (Clock Tower). The building was the official residence, belonging to the mayor or to the royal county lord of the citadel.Vlad Dracul, the son of Mircea cel Batran, lived here between 1431 and 1435, as well. Nowadays, the building shelters a restaurant.

The central square is limited by 18th century houses, inhabited by the noble families of the town. The main fairs or the criminal trials took place in this square, the execution post (pillar of infamy) being placed here as well.

The Bastion Street, on which can be found Casa cu Sindrila (the House with Shingle), a specific handicraftsman’s house, continues the Square. The house shelters the residence of the Interethnic Centre for the Youth, as part of the German Forum of Sighisoara, where they carry on a great number of educational courses for the youth, and it also shelters an Internet-Café.