Things to do in Sighişoara
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Piaţa Hermann Oberth
Cobblestones and Dracula we can understand, but what does Sighişoara have to do with space exploration? Heaps, it turns out. If it wasn't for one of Sighişoara's most beloved residents, space might still be 'out there'. Though he was born in Sibiu, Hermann Oberth (1894-1989), considered one of the fathers of modern astronautics and rocketry, is revered as a local boy (don't remind anyone that he only spent a few years here as a child).
Inspired by Jules Verne as a skygazing tyke, he started to design space rockets at the age of 14. Later, when studying medicine and physics in Munich, he wrote prolifically about the possibility and mechanics of space travel. Most of his …
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History Museum
Inside the tower is the great little History Museum, with small rooms that wind up to the 7th-floor look-out above the clock. On the first floor, don't miss the small exhibit on local hero Hermann Oberth; there are some English translations (as well as the sketch of Oberth's 'space suit'). A couple of floors up are 18th-century gingerbread wood blocks, a local tradition that dates from 1376.
Above you can see the clock's famed figures, as well as the clanking innards behind. It's not made clear, but you can visit the History Museum, the medieval arms collection, and the Torture Room Museum for a combined ticket price (about the same price as the student discounts for all …
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Clock Tower
Entering the citadel, you pass under the massive Clock Tower, which dates from 1280 and once housed the town council. Formerly the main entrance to the fortified city, the tower is 64m tall, with sturdy base walls measuring an impenetrable 2.35m. Inside, the 1648 clock is a pageant of slowly revolving 80cm-high figurines, carved from linden wood, each representing a character from the Greek-Roman pantheon: Peace bears an olive branch, Justice has a set of scales and Law wields a sword.
The executioner is also present and the drum-player strikes the hour. Above stand seven figures, each representing a day of the week.
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Café International & Family Centre
This two-room café, with chairs spilling onto the square in summer, is the perfect lunch spot, with daily made, mostly vegetarian fare, including quiche or lasagne or lemon meringue pie. No alcohol is served but you can bring beer to the outside tables. It also doubles as a tourist office in summer (only); knows a lot about the city, can arrange 1½-hour walking tours, hire bikes and can point you to an organic apple orchard in the hills outside town. Sales of local crafts go to help local homeless children and the elderly. The basement is a good spot for internet access.
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Citadel
Most of Sighişoara's sights are clustered in the compact old town - the delightful medieval Citadel - perched on a hillock and fortified with a 14th-century wall, to which 14 towers and five artillery bastions were later added. Today the citadel, which is on the Unesco World Heritage list, retains just nine of its original towers (named for the guilds in charge of their upkeep) and two of its bastions.
You'll have more than a couple of chances to get Dracula t-shirts and locally made brandy these days.
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Torture Room Museum
Under the clock tower on the right (if heading out of the old town) is the small, dark Torture Room Museum, which shows how fingers were smashed and prisoners burned with coals. The 'Spanish boot' was a happy little foot-crushing device. If it's closed, ask at the medieval arms collection for entry.
It's not made clear, but you can visit the History Museum, the medieval arms collection, and the Torture Room Museum for a combined ticket price (about the same price as the student discounts for all three).
reviewed
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Lutheran Church
Apart from their two churches in the citadel, Sighişoara's Saxon community had a third Lutheran Church, deliberately sited well outside the city walls. The tin-spired church, sitting inauspiciously at a rail crossing just west of the train station off Str Libertăţii ('if that sermon don't knock the devil outa'em, the rattle of the trains will!'), was used in the 17th century as an isolation compound for victims of the plague and later of leprosy.
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Collection of Medieval Arms
The small Collection of Medieval Arms has four rooms devoted to medieval helmets, shields, cross-bows, maces (aka 'whips for fight') and cannonballs. Somehow an illustration of Napoleon made the cut too. It's not made clear, but you can visit the History Museum, the medieval arms collection, and the Torture Room Museum for a combined ticket price (about the same price as the student discounts for all three).
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Casa Dracula
Continuing west towards Piaţa Cetăţii, you come to the site in which Vlad Ţepeş (Dracula) was born in 1431 and reputedly lived until the age of four. The pretty, all-renovated Casa Dracula is now a restaurant. Bubble-burster: the building is indeed centuries old, but has been completely rebuilt since Vlad's days.
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Metropolis
Down the zigzag sidewalk from left of the clock tower (from inside the citadel), this cavernous pink-walled joint has a big stage for jam sessions and themed dance nights. Stop by if you hear rehearsal and see if the manager's practising band has found a name yet. To quote him, 'Satriani. Malmsteen…geniuses'.
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Market
It's worth visiting the market on Wednesday and Saturday when Roma and villagers from outlying regions come into town on their horse-drawn wagons to sell their wares.The daily market has a good selection of fruits, vegetables and cheese.
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Church on the Hill
The covered stairway leads to the 1345 Gothic Church on the Hill, a 429m Lutheran church and the town's highest point. Facing its entry - behind the church when approaching from the steps - is an atmospheric, overgrown German cemetery.
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Goldsmiths' Tower
Behind the Church on the Hill are the remains of the Goldsmiths' Tower. The goldsmiths, tailors, carpenters and tinsmiths (the only craftsmen to have their guilds and workshops inside the citadel), existed until 1875.
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Church of the Dominican Monastery
The 15th-century Gothic Church of the Dominican Monastery, closed for renovation at research time, became the Saxons' main Lutheran church in 1556. Classical, folk and baroque concerts have been held here in the past.
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Statue of Vlad Ţepeş
Hidden away behind the the Church of the Dominican Monastery is a Statue of Vlad Ţepeş (Dracula), showing the legend with a bewildered look and his trademark circa-1981 porno moustache.
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Piaţa Cetăţii
The quiet, miniscule Piaţa Cetăţii is the heart of old Sighişoara. It was here that markets, craft fairs, public executions, impalings and witch trials were held.
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Rustic
Wide-open windows hardly make a dent of light in this dark wood-and-brick 'man's man' bar/restaurant down from the citadel. Eggs are served all day, plus the usual grilled meats.
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Covered Stairway
From the Piaţa Cetăţii, turn left up Str Şcolii to the 172 steps of the Covered Stairway, which has tunnelled its way up the hill since 1642.
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No Limits
This slightly upmarket disco is to the right of the arched entry to the citadel, just below the Clock Tower. It borders on tackiness but gets steamy on weekends.
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Cross-Country Farm
Cross-Country Farm, 17km west of town, offers six-hour horseback rides past traditional villages. There are wagons for beginners and guides speak English.
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Jo Pizzerie
Jo's huge terrace overlooks the busy square, with old tower views. The setting's great but the pizza's just OK. Focus on beer and ice cream.
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Roman Catholic Church
At the northern end of Str Bastionul is the Roman Catholic Church (1896) and the Tailors' Tower (Turnul Cizmarilor) past a little park.
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Cositorarului Casa
Near the citadel wall, this indoor/outdoor café focuses on sweets, coffee and brandy - but has a few sandwiches.
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Tailors' Tower
At the northern end of Str Bastionul is the Roman Catholic church (1896) and the Tailors' Tower past a little park.
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