The citadel of Sighisoara, museum city, part of the dowry of our history, preserves in lines, forms, volumes, colors, environment and typologies, the memory of a time, which, by specific means of architecture, urbanistics and the objects of old craftsmen speaks about the continuity and permanence of the Romanian people in Transylvania. The citadel of Sighisoara, museum city, part of the dowry of our history, preserves in lines, forms, volumes, colors, environment and typologies, the memory of a time, which, by specific means of architecture, urbanistics and the objects of old craftsmen speaks about the continuity and permanence of the Romanian people in Transylvania.
Many visitors from other countries and from all times have observed the picturesque of the city that they have praised as the “Pearl of Tarnava”.
Attested by documents, the name of the city appears in the year of 1280 under the name of “Castrum Sex”, and by the name of “Sighisoara” in the year of 1435.
In order to face the danger, the inhabitants of the citadel have built strong walls, building as well a fortified church. To these, 14 towers of the guilds and four bastions have been added which have increased the defending capacity.
At the beginning of the 15th century, Sighisoara has supported the Muntenian Prince Vlad Dracul, established here between the years 1431-1435, in order to prepare the occupation of the throne of Tara Romaneasca. The stay of the prince within the citadel is attested by the fabrication of a personal coin, with intense circulation in the Transylvanian lands.
It is adequate to mention another important event as well: in 1431 Vlad the Impaler was born in Sighisoara.
After losing the battle at Mohacs (1526), the Hungarian Kingdom became part of a Turkish region, and Transylvania transformed for more than a century in a theatre of fights between the Hapsburgs, Turks and the Princes of Transylvania.
Sighisoara returns in the history pages, in the year of 1600, when Mihai Viteazul has travelled through the citadel, in his march of victory towards Alba Iulia, where he proclaimed the first union of the three Romanian Principalities: Tara Romaneasca, Transylvania and Moldavia.
The 17th century brings numerous afflictions to Sighisoara. The sieges, the famine, the robberies and the outbreaks of plague, the floods, the earthquakes and the devastating fires have made thousands of
victims and have caused great destructions.
Another important moment of the Revolution in 1848 is related to Sighisoara. In the locality of Albesti, not far from the citadel, in a bloody battle with the troops of the tzar, fell one of the greatest Hungarian
revolutionaries, the poet Petofi Sandor.
The museum city, host for a short period for the great composer Johannes Brahms, still keeps many interesting places and buildings for any interested visitor or enamoured of the medieval architecture.
Out of the 9 towers still existing today, The Clock Tower (Turnul cu Ceas) which guards the “Square of the Citadel” raises as a first and imposing building. The turret clock, the same as the model in Prague, was built in Switzerland.
The strongest tower of the citadel, The Goldsmith’s Tower (Turnul Aurarilor) (non existent today) has created a legend: a good marksman would have hit with a gun bullet a turkish leader, who had arrived on the back of an elephant, in front of an army which was preparing to siege the citadel. In the remembrance of the happening, a wooden tower called “With a Human Face” (La chip) can be seen in the Western part of the city.
One of the most representative monuments of Transylvania can be also found in Sighisoara. It is the Church on the Hill, built out of stone (the 14th-15th century), solidly raised in the middle of a place with rich vegetation. The entire ensemble breaths durability in a mixture of architectural styles out of which it
visibly penetrates however the Gothic style.
The postage stamps issue dedicated to Sighisoara reproduces on the images of the three values The Church on the Hill (Biserica din Deal) (the face value of RON 1.00), the Historical Centre of the city (the face value of RON 1.60), and The Clock Tower (the face value of RON 6.00). The perforated souvenir sheet of the issue presents entirely, the wall of the citadel with the towers and the existing bastions within the inner constructions. The postage stamp of the souvenir sheet has the face value of RON 7.60.
Issue date: 2009-07-24
