Sighisoara, Romania

[Paul]

Just some pics taken within the Sighisoara (Sighişoara: pronounced something like Sig-ish-o-ara) citadel last year (July 2010). Note that there are no Orthodox churches within the citadel as it was founded by German Saxons. Sighişoara, Romania, is the birthplace of Vlad Ţepeş (Dracula  ) and there is a very cool  medieval festival held in the citadel every year. If you arrive early enough, you can see everything in a day.

The clock tower is probably the most photographed building in Sighişoara, it is much larger than it appears in this picture...



Another view of the tower...



One of the many churches within the citadel...



Center of the citadel, limited public parking on the right with cars from all over Europe...



"The Church On The Hill" (top section of the pic), If you have trouble walking, forget about visiting it... you have to climb a lot of stairs and it's not handicap accessible...



A guy making some Orthodox icon trinkets in front of the house where Vlad Ţepeş was born, it a coffee and art shop now 



Some pensions/hotels/restaurants...



And looking out at the city of Sighişoara...



Thanks for looking.

[el_guero]

Nice!

[Chris]

Lovely pictures Paul, looks a bit different to what I imagined Romania would be like.

[Manny]

It looks remarkably like Tallinn did ten years ago.

[Paul]

Most of the old German/Saxon cities in Romania look similar,.. Sibiu, Braşov, etc. (mostly in Transylvania). Toward the east and north/east, you will see more of an "Orthodox" or "Byzantine" style to everything... except Bucharest which has a sort of French style of architecture.

[Manny]

I am thinking many of these buildings had a similar blueprint across the region. The photo below is of a church in Tallinn, look how similar it is to the one you posted.

[Paul]

I am thinking many of these buildings had a similar blueprint across the region. The photo below is of a church in Tallinn, look how similar it is to the one you posted.

Is it a Lutheran church?

I edited my previous post, btw.

[Vinnvinny]

I don't mean to hijack your thread Paul but anything Romanian is now an interest to me thanks to Ms Alexandra Stan.

 

[Paul]

I don't mean to hijack your thread Paul but anything Romanian is now an interest to me thanks to Ms Alexandra Stan.

LOL, no worries, Vinnvinny  Try Googling "Biancai Dragusanu", she is the blond in this YouTube video

[Manny]

I am thinking many of these buildings has a similar blueprint across the region. The photo below is of a church in Tallinn, look how similar it is to the one you posted.

Is it a Lutheran church?

The homepage is here: http://www.tallinnajaani.ee/

I am guessing "Luterliku" means Lutheran. I have never been inside it. Only walked past it a million times.

The bright yellow, neo-Gothic church that dominates Freedom Square (Vabaduse väljak) is the true survivor among the city's churches. Despite two attempts to tear it down in the last century, it has persevered and is likely to be around for a long time to come.

The idea for St. John's first came about in the mid-19th century when the city's growing population of ethnic Estonians made the Holy Spirit Church too small for its congregation. A new church, which at the pastor's suggestion was named for St. John the Evangelist, was founded.

Construction lasted from 1862 to 1867, and was carried out under the supervision of the church's designer, Tallinn-born architect Christoph August Gabler. Building on this spot was no easy task. The area here outside the old city wall had earlier been the site of the town moat, so the land was too soft to hold up the structure's foundation. The solution was to ram dozens of thick oak trunks into the ground for extra support.

By the 1930s, a new crop of art deco and functionalist buildings had appeared around Freedom Square, leaving the church's neo-Gothic appearance dramatically out of step with its surroundings. However, the city's plans to pull down the church and reconstruct the square were never realised due to the war and subsequent occupation of Estonia. Likewise, avant-guard architects had similar ideas in the 1950s, but fortunately, these were never followed through.

[Paul]

I am guessing "Luterliku" means Lutheran. I have never been inside it. Only walked past it a million times.

It looks like it says that it is an Evangelical Lutheran church on their website.

The (huge) church in the picture below is an Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral and it was photographed in Sibiu, Romania (also known as Hermannstadt by its German residents), which is a little south/west of Sighişoara,.. on my first trip to meet Ada



This smaller clock tower was photographed south of Sighişoara in a village that I can't remember the name of (blink your eyes and you're through it)...



Also south of Sighişoara are the ruins of this fortress that was built by (German) Teutonic Knights ... if I remember correctly, sometime in the 13th century; there is another old fortress by the clock tower in the above pic.



The Black church in Braşov, Romania, below (south of Sighişoara as well) ... and if I remember correctly it is either the first or second largest Gothic style church in Eastern Europe. The Braşov area is where Vlad Ţepeş impaled the Saxons who killed his brother and those who refused to pay a tax to him,.. the depiction of the impalement below the church was carved on wood by Saxons and used as propaganda against him (Russians also did this sort of thing with Vlad Ţepeş).





Good times, eh?

[Vinnvinny]

LOL, no worries, Vinnvinny  Try Googling "Biancai Dragusanu", she is the blond in this YouTube video

..... after several hours of following link after link after link I may have to get Moby round and see if he can get me Romanian TV. I'm now a big fan.

[Paul]

..... after several hours of following link after link after link I may have to get Moby round and see if he can get me Romanian TV. I'm now a big fan.

That reminded me of a Romanian TV commercial for ROM chocolate bars that would melt your socks,.. pity it can't be found on YouTube It would have gotten an "R" rating in the U.S. 

[Vinnvinny]

That reminded me of a Romanian TV commercial for ROM chocolate bars that would melt your socks,.. pity it can't be found on YouTube It would have gotten an "R" rating in the U.S. 

I didn't see that one on my virtual travels but I came across (no pun) this which must be up near the top in the Romanian sexy choccy ads awards.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2733853/sexy_romanian_commercial_advertising_for_chocolate/

Perhaps the mods would like to split this thread as I dont want to detract from your excellent photos.

[Paul]

Apparently chocolate makes Romanians very horny 

The ROM commercial was on the same level and aired often on Ro TV.