Sibiu

Sibiu was founded by German settlers in the twelfth century and remained a Saxon town for eight hundred years, which shows in everything from the guild towers to the language on old gravestones. Its centre is three connected squares: the Large Square, the Small Square and the Huet Square around the Gothic Lutheran cathedral. The town's quirk is architectural and slightly unnerving, the eyelid dormers set into steep roofs, narrow slit windows with curved lids that look exactly like half-open eyes, so that walking the squares feels observed. The Bridge of Lies links two of the squares and comes with the usual story about collapsing under a liar. The Brukenthal Museum, one of the oldest public art collections in Europe, holds Flemish and Romanian painting, and the open-air Astra museum outside town is among the largest of its type anywhere.

History

The town was founded by Saxon settlers brought in by Géza II of Hungary, who arrived around 1147, perhaps on the site of the Roman fort of Cedonia, and by 1376 its craftsmen were organised in 19 guilds. It became the leading German town among the seven that gave Transylvania its German name Siebenbürgen and the home of the Saxon University, and in the 18th and 19th centuries it was also a centre of Transylvanian Romanian life, with the Albina Bank and the ASTRA association (Wikipedia, Sibiu).

What's there

• The three squares - Large, Small and Huet, linked by passages and stairs.
• The eyelid dormers - the watching windows in the roofs above the old town.
• Brukenthal Museum - a major old-master collection in the former governor's palace.
• Astra open-air museum - hundreds of relocated traditional buildings in woodland outside town.

When to go

May to September for terrace weather and festivals; Sibiu's theatre festival in June fills the city. December brings one of Romania's better Christmas markets in the Large Square. Winter is cold but the old town looks its best under snow.

What to expect

The old town is compact and can be walked in a few hours, so the museums and the Astra site are what justify a second day. Astra is enormous and requires several hours plus transport out of town. Cobbles and stairs make the centre hard going for wheels.

Nearby

The fortified Saxon churches of Transylvania ring the city; Sighisoara and Brasov are within a few hours.

Key facts