Romania : Part 6 - Day 8 : Fortified Church of Biertan and Clock Tower in Sighisoara

Day 8 of Romanian Drive

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 8. 

22/9 Day 8: Sibiu -- Fortified Church of Biertan -- Clock Tower, Sighisoara

We slept in the car.

Must-Incur Costs

(1) Entrance fee to Fortified Church of Biertan - LEI10 per person / EUR2.22
(2) Parking ticket at Fortified Church of Biertan - LEI5 / EUR1.11
(3) Parking ticket at Sighisoara - LEI5 / EUR1.11
(4) Clock Tower at Sighisoara - LEI14 / EUR3.10

Optional Costs 

(1) 22/9 Lunch in Sighisoara Old Historic Town - Blueberry pie LEI10 / EUR2.22, Cola LEI6 / EUR1.33  

(2) 22/9 Dinner in Sighisoara - Paprikash chicken LEI26.50 / EUR5.87, Cabbage roll LEI24.50 / EUR5.43, Water LEI4 / EUR0.89, Tiramisu LEI9 / EUR1.99

(3) 22/9 Tips for dinner - LEI2 / EUR0.44 (Prof Sweet Tooth tipped at almost every eatery we went to)
(4) 22/9 Tips for Pensiuner Milenium (after checkout) - LEI2 (placed under the pillow. Prof Sweet Tooth tells me it is tradition which I have never heard of before)

The Story

220916 - Today, we check out from Pensiuner Milenium. We bid farewell to the kind owner who sent us off. When I first met him, I asked him who are you. He said that I am the big boss. His English was not very fluent, but I could figure he was the owner.

We drive towards Sighisoara and along the way, we stopped at Biertan to see its fortified church. I did not see many locals roaming around. I wondered whether were we in the right place, until I see souvenir booths. In Romania, to identify if you are in a tourist attraction, look out for souvenir stalls. The more famous, the more stalls. 

We were charged a parking fee by a local and I thought that he did not look like a church staff. More importantly, it was expensive at Lei5. 

The Biertan fortified church (Romanian: Biserica fortificată din Biertan; German: Kirchenburg von Birthälm) is a Lutheran fortified church in Biertan (Birthälm), Sibiu County, in the Transylvania region of Romania. It was built by the ethnic German Transylvanian Saxon community at a time when the area belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary. Briefly Roman Catholic, it became Lutheran following the Reformation. Together with the surrounding village, the church forms part of the villages with fortified churches in Transylvania UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Since 1990, Saxons come annually to Biertan to celebrate their heritage. In 1993, Biertan and its fortified church were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site; it was joined by six other places in 1999 to form the villages with fortified churches in Transylvania site. Additionally, the church is listed as a historic monument by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, with each of the three fortifications considered a separate monument. Biertan was the subject of two 2011 postage stamps, a joint issue between Germany and Romania. Source from Wikipedia.

A hall church with three naves that retains a design close to the original, it was the last such church built in Transylvania, and was constructed between 1486 and 1524 on the site of an earlier Romanesque church. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary and built in Late Gothic style with Renaissance touches, the structure was constrained by the hilly landscape. The choir is 18 m in length, with a rib-vaulted ceiling, while the three naves of equal height also have rib vaulting. A defensive level above the choir has parapets and a battlement. A second, wooden, level was demolished in 1803. Source from Wikipedia.

The interior of the church is small, and I felt that I needed to stay here as long as I could because I paid Lei10 for it. Then, a small group of elderly came in and they were briefed on the history of the church in German. Prof Sweet Tooth understood a bit while I felt left out. Why can't they cater to English-speaking tourists too? Or maybe put a signboard somewhere in English about the place. They do have a souvenir shop where the tickets are sold, but it would have been great to have information about the place. I mean, it is a Unesco. I would have love to read some descriptions and not rely on Google each time.  

The clock tower to the north of the church also serves as a gate within the inner fortifications. Four stories high, it has a wooden battlement and parapets. The clock is above the pyramid-shaped roof. Source from Wikipedia.

The grounds contain a "matrimonial prison" where couples wishing to divorce were confined so they could be sure they wished to end their marriage.[1] The lockup lasted for two weeks, although the pair could leave early if they reconciled. They had to share a single bed, plate and spoon. During the three centuries that bishops resided at Biertan, just one couple ended up divorcing. Source from Wikipedia. 

This man's family makes wooden souvenirs. 

We continued our way towards Sighisoara where it holds another Unesco site - the Clock Tower. There were no directions towards the Clock Tower. Prof Sweet Tooth parked at an allocated parking lot for 3 hours. I asked a florist but she could not understand. Suddenly, a local came up to us and said he will show us the way. How kind. While accompanying us to the Clock Tower, he introduced himself as a former army who is not cold because he saw me bundled up, and he was trying hard to guess where I am from. I could see that Malaysia is not on everyone's list when they see a Chinese girl.

On a separate note, we walked inside the Historic Town of Sighisoara and it was a beautiful town. We had a small piece of blueberry pie before we went to see the Clock Tower. 

The Historic Centre of Sighișoara (Sighișoara Citadel) is the old historic center of the town of Sighișoara (German: Schäßburg, Hungarian: Segesvár), Romania, built in the 12th century by Saxon colonists under the Latin name Castrum Sex. It is an inhabited medieval citadel that, in 1999, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its 850-year-old testament to the history and culture of the Transylvanian Saxons.

Birthplace of Vlad III the Impaler (in Romanian Vlad Țepeș), Sighișoara hosts, every year, a medieval festival where arts and crafts blend with rock music and stage plays. The city marks the upper boundary of the Land of Sachsen. Like its bigger brothers, Sibiu (Hermannstadt - The European Cultural Capital in 2007) and Braşov (Kronstadt), Sighișoara exhibits architecture typical of medieval Germany. During the Communist era, this German area was preserved, and the original architecture is still in place. Source from Wikipedia.

In every fortification system there is one fortress that dominates the others: the master-tower. The Clock Tower of Sighișoara (Romanian: Turnul cu Ceas) is the main entry point to the citadel, opposite guarded by Taylor's Tower. With its 64 meters of height, the tower is visible from almost every corner of the city from Mures County, its purpose was to defend the main gate of the citadel and also served as the town hall until 1556. Now It's considered one of the most expressive clock tower in the whole Transylvania.

It's a symbol of Sighisoara, and, despite all the other towers that were owned and defended by different guilds, the Clock Tower was a public good. It used to host the Public Administration, and, during holidays, the city orchestra; since the end of 19th century though it hosts the History Museum of Sighisoara. Another important feature of this tower is the balcony which is the most important observation point of the city: the wide view allowed to sight eventual fires in time in order to reach promptly one of the nine places in all Sighisoara that could provide water. It was vital to prevent the spread of flames because at that time the city did not dispose of much water; it was necessary in fact to dig for 35m to find a source of water. Source from Wikipedia.

There is no photography allowed inside the Tower unless you pay a fee.

Romanian local clothing sold at a very expensive price - The white top costs LEI248 / EUR54.97.

Located at the end of School Street and connecting the Citadel Square with the Church on the Hill, the Scholars' Stairs, or Schoolboys' Stairs, as it was also known, makes for an interesting piece of medieval architecture. Built in 1642, the covered stair-passage was meant to facilitate and protect schoolchildren and churchgoers on their climb to the school and church during wintertime. Originally, the stairs had 300 steps, but after 1849, their number was reduced to 175. Source from Romanian Tourism.

To the north of the Clock Tower stands one of the most representative gothic-style structures in Transylvania, the Church on the Hill - so called because of its location on the School Hill (1,373 ft high). First mentioned in a document in 1345 and superposed on a former Roman basilica, its construction lasted almost 200 years.

Initially a Catholic church, it became the main church of the Saxon inhabitants of Sighisoara, who had shifted from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism after the 1547 Reform. Source from Romanian Tourism.

We did not go inside the Church because we were overdosed with Churches for the past few days. So, Prof Sweet Tooth chose to visit the Cemetery in front of the Church.

The Vlad Dracul House is located in the Citadel Square, close to the Clock Tower. This ocher-colored house is the place where Vlad Tepes, the inspiration for Bram Stoker's famous Dracula, was born in 1431 and lived with his father, Vlad Dracul, until 1435 when they moved to Targoviste. A wrought-iron dragon hangs above the entrance. The ground floor of the house serves as a restaurant, while the first floor is home to the Museum of Weapons (see museum details).

For his deeds, the Order of the Dragon was bestowed upon him, hence the title Dracul (the Latin word for dragon is draco). While in medieval lure dragons served as symbols of independence, leadership, strength and wisdom, the biblical association of the devil with the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve, gave the snake-like dragon connotations of evil. Thus, the Romanian word Dracul stands in English for both dragon and devil. Source from Romanian Tourism.

Even the town discourages giving money to the beggars.

We found a diner located upstairs where we had our dinner - local Romanian food!

I like the pickled cucumber. My meal is cabbage rolls that comes with polenta. It is really good when it is hot, but I got too stuffed by it after eating the third cabbage roll. It was a bit sourish and a hint of vinegar. Prof Sweet Tooth had chicken paprikash which is coincidentally a food that can be found in my country too. So, I am not sure on the locality of this dish. We ended our dinner with tiramisu for dessert, because Prof Sweet Tooth hoped some coffee dessert will keep me awake while he drives.