Sighișoara

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Sighiṣoara
City

Coat of arms
Location of Sighiṣoara
Coordinates: 46°13′1″N 24°47′28″E / 46.21694°N 24.79111°E / 46.21694; 24.79111Coordinates: 46°13′1″N 24°47′28″E / 46.21694°N 24.79111°E / 46.21694; 24.79111
Country  Romania
County Mureṣ County
Status Municipality
Government
 • Mayor Ioan Dorin Dăneṣan (Social Democratic Party)
Population (2011)
 • Total 26,370
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Website http://www.sighisoara.org.ro/

Sighișoara (Romanian pronunciation: [siɡiˈʃo̯ara]; German: Schäßburg; Hungarian: Segesvár, Hungarian pronunciation: [’ʃɛɡɛʃvaːr] ( listen); Latin: Castrum Sex) is a city on the Târnava Mare River in Mureș County, Romania. Located in the historic region of Transylvania, Sighișoara has a population of 26,370 according to the 2011 census.

The city administers seven villages: Angofa, Aurel Vlaicu, Hetiur, Rora, Șoromiclea, Venchi and Viilor.

History

A street in Sighișoara

During the 12th century, German craftsmen and merchants known as the Transylvanian Saxons were invited to Transylvania by the King of Hungary to settle and defend the frontier of his realm. The chronicler Krauss lists a Saxon settlement in present-day Sighișoara by 1191.[citation needed] A document of 1280 records a town built on the site of a Roman fort as Castrum Sex or "six-sided camp", referring to the fort's shape of an irregular hexagon.[1] Other names recorded include Schaäsburg (1282), Schespurg (1298) and Segusvar (1300).[2] By 1337 Sighișoara had become a royal center for the kings, who awarded the settlement urban status in 1367 as the Civitas de Segusvar.

The city played an important strategic and commercial role at the edges of Central Europe for several centuries. Sighișoara became one of the most important cities of Transylvania, with artisans from throughout the Holy Roman Empire visiting the settlement. The German artisans and craftsmen dominated the urban economy, as well as building the fortifications protecting it. It is estimated that during the 16th and 17th centuries Sighișoara had as many as 15 guilds and 20 handicraft branches. The Baroque sculptor Elias Nicolai lived in the city. The Wallachian prince Vlad Dracul (father of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), who lived in exile in the town, had coins minted in the city (otherwise coinage was the monopoly of the Hungarian kings in the Kingdom of Hungary) and issued the first document listing the city's Romanian name, Sighișoara.[citation needed] The Romanian name is first attested in 1435, and derives from the Hungarian Segesvár, where vár is "fort".[1][2]

The city was the setting for George I Rákóczi's election as Prince of Transylvania and King of Hungary in 1631. Sighișoara suffered military occupation, fires, and plagues during the 17th and 18th centuries. An important source for the history of 17th-century Transylvania, for the period of 1606-1666, are the records of Georg Kraus, the town's notary.[3]

The nearby plain of Albești was the site of the Battle of Segesvár, where the revolutionary Hungarian army led by Józef Bem was defeated by the Russian army led by Luders on 31 July 1849. A monument was constructed in 1852 to the Russian general Skariatin, who died in the battle. The Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi is generally believed to have been killed in the battle, and a monument was constructed in his honor at Albești in 1897. After World War I Sighișoara passed with Transylvania from Austria-Hungary to the Kingdom of Romania.

Central Sighișoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city. It has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Each year, a Medieval Festival takes place in the old citadel in July.

View from Villa Franka

Sighișoara is considered to be the most beautiful and well preserved inhabited citadel in Europe,[citation needed] with authentic medieval architecture. In Eastern Europe, Sighișoara is one of the few fortified towns that are still inhabited. The town is made up of two parts. The medieval stronghold was built on top of a hill and is known as the "Citadel" (Cetate). The lower town lies in the valley of Târnava Mare river.

The houses inside Sighișoara Citadel show the main features of a craftsmen's town. However, there are some houses that belonged to the former patriciate, like the Venetian House and the House with Antlers.

In 2001-2003 the construction of a Dracula theme park in the 'Breite' nature preserve near Sighișoara was considered but ultimately rejected, owing to the strong opposition of local civil society groups and national and international media as well as politically influential persons, as the theme park would have detracted from the medieval style of the city and would have destroyed the nature preserve.

Demographics and name

Historical population
Year Pop.  ±%  
1910 10,913—    
1930 13,033+19.4%
1948 18,284+40.3%
1956 20,363+11.4%
1966 25,109+23.3%
1977 33,208+32.3%
1992 36,170+8.9%
2002 32,287−10.7%
2011 26,370−18.3%
Source: Census data

Ethnic groups:[4]

  • Romanians (75%)
  • Hungarians (17.6%)
  • Roma (5.3%)
  • Germans (1.5%)
In Romanian In German In Hungarian
Sighișoara Schäßburg Segesvár
Angofa Ungefug Angofa
Aurel Vlaicu Haufan
Hetiur Marienburg bei Schässburg Hétúr
Rora Rohrau Róra
Șoromiclea
Venchi Wench Venk
Viilor Kulturberg Szőlőskert

Sights

View from Lunca Poștii

Sighișoara is a popular tourist destination for its well-preserved walled old town. The landmark of the city is the Clock Tower, a 64 m-high tower built in the 13th century.[5] It is today a museum of history.

Inside the covered staircase in Sighișoara

Other interesting sights are:

  • Sighișoara Citadel - a 12th-century Saxon edifice, is the historic center of the city. Still inhabited, the citadel is listed as a World Heritage Site.
  • Weapon Museum - next to Vlad's birthplace. Very small, but it contains an interesting selection of medieval weapons (swords, arrows, etc.).
  • Covered Staircase - a very old stone staircase with a wooden roof along the whole span. This leads up to the Church on the Hill and the cemetery.
  • Church on the Hill - contains many frescoes and a crypt. Built on the location of a Roman fort. Located on the side of the hill next to it is one of the Lutheran cemeteries in the city, which contains many tombstones of Germans.
  • Bust of Vlad Țepeș - Located around the corner from his birthplace, within sight of the Clock Tower.

Natives

Sighișoara in the Grand Duchy of Transylvania maps, 1769-1773. Josephinische Landesaufnahme

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Romania

Twin towns — sister cities

Sighișoara is twinned with:

Gallery

  • Clock tower

  • Clock Tower (other view)

  • Clock tower (side view)

  • Clock tower (inside view)

  • Plate honouring Vlad Dracul in Sighișoara (marking the house where Vlad the Impaler was allegedly born)

  • The supposed birthplace of Vlad Dracula

  • Taylors Tower

  • Stairs

  • Covered staircase built in 1642 to ease the access of students to school on the Hill

  • Back alley scene

  • Statue of Vlad the Impaler next to the City Hall

  • City Hall

  • Sighișoara by night

  • Sighișoara by night: Main Entrance

  • Sighișoara by night: Tower

  • Skyline view

  • Street in the old town

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Adrian Room, Placenames of the World, p.347. McFarland, 2006, ISBN 0-7864-2248-3.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cristian Tălângă (ed.), Transilvania, Maramureṣ, Bucovina, p.27. Editura Semne, Bucharest, 2007.
  3. ↑ Erdélyi krónika 1608-1666 (in Hungarian)
  4. ↑ 2011 census data
  5. ↑ Emil Giurgiu, Sighisoara, Ed. Sport-Turism, Bucuresti, 1982, pp. 74
  6. ↑ "Miasta partnerskie - Zamość". Urząd Miasta Zamość (in Polish). Retrieved 2013-07-26. 

External links

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