The drive from Brasov, although only 75 miles, took almost two hours; it was a pretty, but slow drive through small towns and farmland; rarely did we lose sight of the snow-capped peaks in the distance.
We were beginning to think that in the short time we had, that maybe we had made a mistake coming so far north to Sighisoara. The citadel, or walled fortress of the old city, where we would be staying, was a UNESCO World Heritage Site so hoped it would not disappoint.
We entered town and stopped along the Tarnava Mare River to check our bearings; although we had the address of our hotel, Pensiunea Casa Richter, the GPS directed us to a plaza leading to a steep street blocked by a gate. The guard at the gate did not speak English nor we Romanian but when we showed him our hotel confirmation, he raised the gate and waved us through mumbling something that sounded like, “15 minutes”. I drove up a very steep cobble stoned street, through a stone archway and was instructed by the GPS to immediately make a sharp right turn and then a left.
These streets were narrow with no sidewalks; buildings lined both sides of the street and I was paranoid about hitting the car’s mirrors on the concrete walls as I turned. This 12th century medieval walled city was not designed with cars in mind!
We couldn’t find the hotel and the GPS kept directing us to turn down narrow streets – at one point, a car came from the opposite direction forcing me to back up to let it pass. Confused, we parked the car illegally and went on foot to look for the hotel, eventually asking someone for help.
Turns out we had driven by the guest house, not once but twice, but had not noticed the sign above the building as we were so focused on not damaging the car in the narrow streets. The proprietor was waiting for us in the courtyard; we checked in and immediately inquired about parking. He did not speak English but handed us a paper that indicated that cars were only allowed in the citadel for 15 minutes to load and unload guests’ luggage and then must be driven back down the hill and parked in the plaza below. Now we understood what the guard meant!
We trudged our bags up three flights of stairs to our room. It was comfortable with a double and single bed and attached bath; the owner obviously loved rabbits as the room and bath as well as upper stairwell were decorated with knic knacs of this cute little mammal. Concerned about the car, we didn’t linger; I wanted to navigate the car through the narrow streets and gate, down the hill and to the parking lot well before twilight.
At the parking pay station, we met a man who volunteered that we did not need to buy a parking ticket for the lot overnight. We walked back up the hill together and learned that he was a Romanian guide who had worked with Rick Steve’s on his travel program’s episode on Romania. In true guide fashion, he gave us some restaurant tips but more importantly directed up to the main square of Sighisoara. The square was relatively quiet; a bride and groom were being photographed but given the cool weather, patrons of the surrounding restaurants were not eating outdoors.
From the square, we could see the infamous 12th century clock tower that is part of the citadel’s fortifications. The clock mechanism was last replaced in the early 1900’s and still functions today. The tower houses a small museum and can be climbed but unfortunately for us, it had already closed for the day.
We wandered the narrow street toward the clock tower and passed a large orange house; a bronze plaque noted this was the casa of Vlad Dracul from 1431-1435. Vlad Tepes, known as Vlad the Impaler was born and lived here until the age of 4. More about Vlad in a future post on Bran Castle but suffice it to say that he is the historical character upon which English author, Bram Stoker, loosely modeled Count Dracula.
We continued through the archway of the clock tower for a view through the foliage of the Tarnava Mare River below.
The Sighisoara citadel did not disappoint; it is one of the best preserved, still inhabited medieval European citadels and despite the distance and harrowing drive through its narrow streets, well worth the visit. Like many other towns in Transylvania during the 12th century, German craftsmen and merchants, the Transylvania Saxon, settled the area at the invitation of the King of Hungary to help defend the realm from the Ottoman Turks. Sighisoara actually played more of a commercial than a defensive role. Although the city walls were built and fortified, German artisans and craftsmen developed a thriving economy and Sighisoara was one of the earliest towns to mint and use coins outside the monarchy. Interestingly, each of the craftsmen’s guilds – tinsmiths, butchers, bootmakers, tailors, furriers, ironsmiths, tanners, etc. – actually built and maintained a tower and portion of the citadel’s walls. We walked along the old walls, marveling at the grandeur and beauty of this UNESCO World Heritage site.
We perused the shops as we headed back towards the square. Although there was a lot of kitschy Dracula stuff, we did find some beautiful ceramics and hand-painted eggs. Once again we were pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive goods and services are here – the detail of the design on the eggs was exquisite and looked labor intensive yet painted eggs were priced between 8-20 leu or $2-$5. Our hotel room located near the citadel square was under $40. We dined on the patio of the Sighisoara Hotel cafe, lingering over our wine until twilight, watching the resident cat wander amongst the diners, then headed back to the hotel for bed. We need to be in Bucharest tomorrow evening for 7 p.m. dinner; per the GPS, the drive back will take about 5 hours but still leave us some time to explore along the way. Tomorrow we plan to find a fortified church!
