Sibiu – the beautiful Transylvanian city, the heart of Romania

I am reading one of my old posts. It was a big journey through Romania and I don’t remember everything in details. Eh, it is good that I write these posts so I do not forget. So it is good idea to write a new one. In this article I will tell you about our visit to the wonderful city of Sibiu, Romania, what we saw there and why we really loved it.

The Grand Square (Piata Mare) of Sibiu, Romania

It was a great trip in Romania, Transylvania in particular. The whole tour in Romania was based on our visit to Sibiu – a great city. Sibiu did not disappoint us.

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Streets of Sibiu

Historically Sibiu was first for many things that happened in Romania: first Romanian theatre, first hospital, first book written in Romanian was printed in Sibiu (1544), first museum, first Zoo, first use of electricity… It also has some first places on a worldwide level and some second places as well – first homeopathic laboratory, second city in Europe with electric trams (1904). So active citizens!

We arrived in Sibiu in the late afternoon and after we found our hotel, somewhere near the Zoo, we went to the city centre. We had no problem with parking, it was extremely cheap and the ticked was valid for 6 hours. Through a small street with old houses we went to the Grand Square.

Grand square at Sibiu, Romania

The Grand Square (Piata Mare)

It’s like a time travel, as we were back to 15^th century. Everything around was quiet and beautiful, illuminated by the setting sun, a fountain murmured in the middle of the square.

The fountain at Grand square

The Catholic church

So we were on the square looking around us. It is full of beautiful historical houses and palaces. The most important one is the Brukenthal Palace (Palatul Brukenthal), built in 1777-1778 for residence of Samuel von Brukenthal, Governor of Transylvania (1777 – 1787). The building was opened as a museum in 1817. One older house is locked next to the palace (15^th -16^th century) – the Blue house (Casa Albastră). The house of Generals (Casa “Generalului”) – 15^th century. And many others from this period. The Catholic Church is on the square too. You can see also the Council tower, one of the oldest buildings here but it is formally situated on the next square.

The small square (Piata Mica)

Through a tunnel under the Council tower we went to the Small Square. It’s not so small but it is quite smaller than the previous one. Today most of it is a car parking. But there you can find also gorgeous restaurants, pubs and bars. On the square is the Liar’s Bridge – the first forged iron bridge in Romania (1859).

Passage to the small square in Sibiu, Romania

The small square and the tower of Sibiu

: Small square of Sibiu

Liar’s Bridge (the Bridge of Lies)

According to the belief, if one stands on the bridge and tell a lie, the bridge will collapse. But actually the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu has been there and has even given a speech from the bridge. Well, it did not collapse – maybe we have to assume that everything he said was true.

The council tower (Turnul Sfatului)

The tower is erected on the Small Square and you can visit it. After a steep climbing on the stairs you can enjoy a nice view of the Old Sibiu Town

View of Sibiu, Romania, from the Council tower

Another view from the tower

The fortification wall and its towers

When you take a walk around Sibiu you will see the old fortification wall and some towers that once surrounded the medieval Sibiu. Now they are in the middle of the old town.

Fortifications

Fortification walls in Sibiu

The Lower town

Everything I told you so far was about the Upper town. Once Sibiu was divided to Upper town (Orașul de sus) and Lower town (Orașul de jos). The Lower town is not so impressive but it is a nice place for walk.

The breakfast

I strongly recommend you the Romanian doughnuts (gogoși) and pretzels (covrigi). They are both offered with different fillings and are very tasty. In the morning almost every Romanian is eating one of them for breakfast while walking for work.

Breakfast in Sibiu

Sibiu is a very beautiful city.

A street in Sibiu

Complexul Național Muzeal „Astra”

The ASTRA National Museum Complex in Sibiu

My story about Sibiu would be incomplete without the long and tiring walk in ASTRA museum. It is an open-air museum located near the zoo, almost outside the city. In good weather it is a wonderful place for walk. The museum was opened in 1905 and offers a very nice collection of traditional Romanian village houses. There is a similar museum in Bucharest, and I have also been to such place in Kiev – Pirogovo.

Next to ASTRA is located the famous Zoo but we didn’t have enough time to visit it. I hope we will do it next time. There is also an entrance to the Zoo from ASTRA, however you will have to pay an additional fee. The admission fee for ASTRA (August 2014) was 15 lei (3,5 euro).