Sighisoara has always fascinated its visitors by its picturesque by-streets, houses, bastions, towers, churches; besides, it is the birthplace of a both historical and legendary hero Dracula or Vlad the Impaler. Narrow lanes winding towards the fortress, church towers, donjons, covered stairs, arched and tunnel fronted houses make up a rich and unique out-door medieval museum.
Alledgedly built in 1191, but found in documents of the time only in 1280 under the name of "Castrum Sex" (Fort Six), then by the german name Schespurch (1298), and only later, in 1431, in a written document issued by Vlad Dracul - Vlad the Impaler's father, it was given the actual name of Sighisoara (Schaessburg, Segesvar).
Sighisoara is no doubt the best preserved fortified town in Transylvania, with a beautiful and authentic medieval architecture. It was built by german colonists in order to defend the former borders of the hungarian kingdom during the 12th-13th centuries. Counting 36,486 inhabitants (1995), Sighisoara lies in the valley of the Tarnava Mare river. The medieval stronghold was built on top of a hill, surrounded by forests, and known as the "Hill of the Fortress". The superb natural background against which Sighisoara was set made people call it "a gem of Transylvania" or "a pearl of the Tarnava river". |
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