Monuments to visit Sighişoara

The defensive system built by the craftsmen's guilds consisted of a wall almost 1 km long, fourteen defensive towers and five artillery bastions. Today, nine towers, two bastions and part of the surrounding wall remain.

Clock Tower(turnul cu Ceas). The town's landmark, it stands 64 meters high. Built in the ^14th century, many of its features have been altered or added to, such as its Baroque roof dating from 1677. The clock, the tower's most original feature, dates from 1648 and appears on both of its main facades. On the new town side, you'll recognize the executioner and the drummer, surmounted by seven wooden statuettes representing the days of the week. On the city side, you'll see the tambourine player on the right, in charge of the quarter hours; on the lower left, Peace, holding an olive branch and a trumpet; the female statues, holding a sword and scales, symbolize Reason and Justice; finally, two figurines represent day and night. Please note that the clock mechanisms are not in operation while the tower roof is being refurbished (reopening scheduled for 2025).

Tour des Bouchers(turnul Măcelarilor): from the Tour des Cordiers, the city wall descends northeast to the Tour des Bouchers. It dates from the ^16th century. The section of ramparts between the two towers remains intact.

Tour des Cordiers(turnul Franghierilor): probably dating from the ^13th century, this tower was also part of the original fortification of the hilltop. Note that it is still inhabited!

Shoemaker's Tower(turnul Cizmarilor): destroyed in 1676 and rebuilt in 1681, this hexagonal tower is the most impressive in the town.

Tower of the Tinners(turnul Cositorarilor): 25 meters high, square at the base, then octagonal. The roof is hexagonal.

Blacksmiths' Tower(turnul Fierarilor): built in 1631, this tower is set against the surrounding wall. Its role was to protect the church and monastery in the event of a siege.

Shoemakers' Tower(turnul Cojocarilor): a few meters from the Butchers' Tower, this small, simple structure dates from the ^15th century.

Tailors' Tower(turnul Croitorilor): this tower is impressive for its simplicity and solidity. It was probably built in the ^14th century. Like the Clock Tower, it protects an entrance formed by two vaulted corridors.

Tour des Tanneurs(turnul Tăbăcarilor): square in structure, with a simple roof, this is one of the town's oldest towers.

Archaeological studies seem to show that the first foundations of the German settlers were one-storey wooden houses supported by massive oak beams. The stone and brick houses were built in stages between the 15th and 18th centuries, especially after the great fire of 1676. The citadel (cetate) is not very big and you will not get lost in it. It is surrounded by old fortifications from the 14th century, of which mainly the towers added in the 15th century remain. The pretty Piaţa Cetăţii is the centre of the city.

It was built between 1694 and 1703 for Johann Schuller von Rosenthal, mayor of the town at that time. Above the entrance, a coat of arms with a sword and a bouquet of three roses bears the motto of the house: Per spinas ad rosas. A romantic figure and inveterate adventurer who spent his youth in Turkey as a translator for the Sultan, Johann Schuller von Rosenthal was convicted in 1703 for embezzlement and beheaded in the courtyard of the Dominican monastery.