Sighişoara

Introducing Sighişoara

Dracula was born here. And for many visitors to this dreamy, medieval citadel town, seeing where Dracula, well Vlad Ţepeş actually, made his first steps is enough to justify a quick visit. But it’s hardly the end of Sighişoara, with half-a-millennium-old townhouses of bright colours overlooking hilly cobbled streets and church bells that clang in the early hours. Cute museums uncover some colourful (and treacherous) local history. The low hills that flank the town lead to pastures and forests, which are home to traditional villages that conjure past eras, as well as Saxon villages (such as Biertan and Vişcri) you can bike, hike or drive to. Yes, bus tours come in and out in summer, and even some visitors feel that a day’s enough –but some days are better than others.

Settled by the Romans, the town was first documented as Castrum Sex. Saxon colonists settled here from the 12th century and built it into a thriving crafts and trading town; today, there are fewer than 500 Germans here.

Sighişoara (Schässburg in German, Segesvár in Hungarian) is in the midst of rejuvenation, prompted by a sudden influx of German investment, resulting in painted houses and new hotels and sidewalk cafés. Prince Charles, also, has played a part, rolling up his sleeves to assist with the Mihai Eminescu Trust (www.mihaieminescutrust.org), formed during the communist era to save the destruction of rural architecture.

In 2006, the municipality hired an ‘announcer’ – an artist/musician/teacher with trad­itional outfit and snareless drum to pat-pat-pat ‘announcements’ in various languages to passers-by (a practice borrowed from the citadel’s olden days). A sample greeting: ‘the gates of the citadel are open for you…welcome!’

The week-long Medieval Festival of the Arts in late July is more of a wild drinking party than anything cultural, but the colourful costumes are pretty to look at, especially through a beery daze.

Last updated: Sep 30, 2008