Photos

Back to Transylvania and the beginning of a new series. Back to the beautiful historic town of Sighisoara (Schäßburg/Schaespurch/Segesvár).

This is the sight most visitors get as they walk up the narrow alleys which, passing under the clock tower, lead into the fortified town. The historic town with its narrow alleys and colorful houses, although in need of repair and proper maintenance, is fairytale like with a quaint atmosphere. The town also happens to be the birthplace of the infamous Vlad Dracul III the Impaler. Another important personality, Hermann Oberth, the pioneer of modern space exploration, lived several years in the town.

The fortified town or burg was built from the 1200s onwards by the German Saxons, which settled in central Transylvania between 1200-1300s. The city was first mentioned in documents in 1280 as "Castrum Sex" (6th Burg) and later in 1298 as "Schespurch". The city was one of the 7 economic and political centers of Saxon Transylvania (Siebenbürgen), once an autonomous region of the Hungarian kingdom.

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