Things to see and do Alba Iulia

The Alba Iulia citadel was built between 1714 and 1738 by the Habsburgs, who dominated Transylvania at the time. Baroque in style, it covers an area of 70 ha and features seven bastions. The citadel, with its Vauban-style star-shaped defensive system, is very isolated from the city and therefore not very lively. Crossed from east to west by strada Mihai Viteazul, it is nevertheless pleasant, airy and full of flowers. The cloister and cathedral are superb. Also worth a visit is the small wooden Orthodox church (Trinity Church), at the end of the road on the right as you exit to the east. The panorama of the city and surrounding area (including a highly visible factory painted blue and yellow) is very attractive.

Its walls, 12 km long in all, are pierced by three large gates. The first, at the bottom of the mountain, is shaped like a classical triumphal arch. The upper level is richly sculpted in Baroque style. In the center is a pedestal featuring the imperial coat of arms of the House of Austria: a double-headed eagle bearing a sword and scepter. Little remains of the second door, which was blocked up in the early ^20th century. Only two stone pillars remain, while the sculptures that once adorned the building can now be seen at the Union National Museum. The third door is the most impressive, both in terms of size and ornamentation. It is shaped like a double triumphal arch. Four pillars support the arch that surmounts the three entrances.

Located on the site of the former bishop's palace, from which it incorporates elements, the Palace of the Princes of Transylvania was built in stages from the ^mid-14th century onwards. It was the home of Michael the Brave during his eleven-month rule of Transylvania between 1599 and 1600. After many years of restoration, a museum has opened within its walls. It traces the history of the building and the illustrious figures who have occupied it.

Located in the northern part of the citadel, it was founded in the late ^18th century by Bishop Ignác Batthyány. Housed in a former Baroque church, it is home to some 70,000 volumes, including 1,230 manuscripts and rare books. The most precious of these is the Codex aureus, written in gold ink on ^8th-century parchment and richly illustrated. The superb Great Hall blends neoclassical and rococo styles. It was also here, in 1792, that the country's first astronomical observatory was established, destroyed during the revolution of 1848.

It was erected in 1921-1922 to celebrate the coronation of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie, sovereigns of a united Greater Romania, on October 15, 1922. Nicknamed the "Coronation Cathedral", it stands at the western entrance to the citadel. In traditional Romanian style, it follows the Greek cross plan, with an open porch supported by strong columns. The interior murals, in neo-Byzantine style, are by Costin Petrescu. You'll also see portraits of Michael the Brave (Mihai Viteazul) and his wife, Princess Stanca.

It occupies two prestigious neighboring buildings in the city center: the Babylon building, erected in 1851, and the Union Hall, built in 1900. It was here that the Grand National Assembly proclaimed the union of Transylvania with Romania on December¹, 1918. The various sections cover prehistory, the Middle Ages, battles against the Turks, the revolution of 1848, the unification of the Danubian principalities in 1859 and, of course, the joining of Transylvania.

Built in several stages on the site of a Romanesque church destroyed by the Tatars in 1241, this cathedral is representative of the major artistic trends of the Middle Ages: Romanesque (basilica, transept), Gothic (choir), Renaissance and Baroque. The funerary monuments house the remains of the city's great bishops and the sarcophagi of great princely families, including that of János Hunyadi (Iancu de Hunedoara), famous prince of Transylvania.