Sighișoara, Biertan, and the Fortresses of Saschiz and Rupea
Angela: today the alarm goes off early. The sun filters through the branches, and the morning mist wraps the fields like a thin veil. Our van is eager: heading to Sighișoara, the most beautiful medieval citadel in all of Romania.
Piero: and also the best preserved. Sighișoara isn’t just a tourist stop, it’s a plunge into the real Middle Ages. Founded by the Saxons in the 12th century as Schäßburg, it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Here, time seems to have forgotten to move.
Angela: we park the van at the foot of the hill and walk up the stone streets. Just beyond the entrance gate, the Clock Tower welcomes us, the city’s emblem. It stands 64 meters tall, with a multicolored roof and pointed pinnacles—it looks like a crown reaching up to the sky.
Piero: we climb all the way to the top, step by step, passing through the city museum. In every room, medieval instruments, maps, seals, old registers. At the top, the view over the citadel is breathtaking: red roofs, towers, bell towers, and all around green hills dotted with woods.
Angela: a little further on is the birthplace of Vlad Țepeș, the real Dracula. He was born here in 1431, when his father was in Sighișoara as commander of the Wallachian troops. Today it’s a restaurant, but it still preserves the original walls and a suspended atmosphere. A bit eerie, too. Nothing special, but it works as a tourist attraction.
Piero: the wrought iron sign with the dragon is a tribute to his father’s nickname, Dracul, who belonged to the Order of the Dragon. From that comes Dracula: the son of the Dragon. A name that would become famous centuries later...
Angela: we leave the tourist heart of the city and take the Covered Staircase: 176 wooden steps, sheltered by a dark, creaking roof. Built in the 17th century to allow children to reach school even in winter. Today, it’s one of the most poetic and mysterious experiences in the entire citadel.
Piero: we climb amid plays of light and shadow, and emerge at the top of the hill, in front of the Church on the Hill and the old Saxon cemetery. The cypresses sway in the wind, the tombstones are carved in Gothic German. A place that speaks softly, but says a lot.
Angela: then we slowly go back down and start wandering through the citadel without any particular destination. Every corner is a discovery: carved wooden doors, decorated windows, wrought iron signs, and flowered balconies.
Piero: we stop in front of the Town Hall, a massive building with Gothic and Renaissance elements, overlooking the central square. It looks like it stepped out of a Bruegel painting, but it’s real.
Angela: we sit down in a typical little restaurant, hidden in a side alley. Wooden beams, checkered tablecloths, earthenware plates. We order sarmale (cabbage rolls), mămăligă, and a glass of vișinată, a cherry liqueur.
Piero: strong, rustic flavors, but authentic.
Angela: we start our afternoon with the Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, just outside the citadel along the riverbank. It’s not as old as the Saxon churches, but it’s a marvel of spirituality and beauty.
Piero: the central dome is majestic. The walls are completely frescoed in a Byzantine style that leaves you speechless. Bright colors that convey harmony and perfection. A true marvel.
Angela: one last look up at the citadel, and we relive the beauty of Sighișoara; you can do the same with this video:
Piero: now we move on to Biertan, a tiny village with a fortified church that’s a UNESCO World Heritage site. Imposing, built on a small hill in the center of the village; we walk up the stone path. Around us, the silence of the countryside, birdsong, a few curious cats. It’s like stepping into a lost world. The church is slender, simple but elegant. Inside, a carved pulpit, a late Gothic high altar with 28 painted panels, and soft light filtering through the tall windows.
Angela: but the real marvel is in the sacristy, in its door. A true masterpiece of 16th-century engineering: a lock with 19 synchronized locking points. When the key turns, hidden mechanisms activate that simultaneously secure the door in multiple directions.
Piero: a kind of medieval safe. So ingenious that in 1900 the lock was exhibited at the Paris World’s Fair as an example of applied art in security!
Angela: not bad for a village surrounded by vineyards. It also shows how rich and organized the Saxon world in Transylvania was.
Piero: and then there’s that story about the “reconciliation room,” do you remember it?
Angela: of course! If a couple wanted a divorce, the priest would lock them in a small room next to the church for two weeks. One bed, one chair, one spoon, one plate. And they had to manage.
Piero: apparently, in two centuries only one couple actually divorced. The others... came out either more in love or more resigned! Medieval intensive therapy.
Angela: we thought the day was over, but the beauty is that in Transylvania, around every corner, there’s always a fortress waiting for you.
Piero: so we leave Biertan with the sun still high and head east. Next stop: Saschiz, a lesser-known village with a fortress that dominates the hills.
Angela: we see it from afar: the peasant citadel of Saschiz, built in the 14th century by the Saxons as a refuge in case of attack. It has been restored, perhaps too much, but its charm remains intact: the stone walls, the towers, the complete silence.
Piero: we park the van at the bottom and take a nice twenty-minute walk through the woods—be careful not to do it after sunset, the signs warn us about bears… At the top, the wind and the 360-degree view welcome us. There’s something wild here.
Angela: there are no gates, no tickets, no souvenirs. We imagine the peasants running here with their livestock to escape the raids. It’s a place that speaks softly, but stays with you.
Piero: we descend slowly, get back on the road, and in less than half an hour we reach the majestic fortress of Rupea. Now that one really stands out!
Angela: from afar it looks like a spiral of walls winding around a volcanic hill. A colossus. Its origins date back to the Dacians, but the current structure is medieval, expanded over time until the 18th century.
Piero: here we enter for real: there’s a ticket, a well-marked path among towers, bastions, and courtyards. It’s one of the best-restored fortresses in Romania, and you really get lost among the panoramic terraces and steep stairs.
Angela: from the highest point, you can see kilometers of hills, cultivated fields, scattered villages. A view that makes you take a deep breath.
Piero: we read that the fortress was also used as a refuge for persecuted Protestants, then as a grain storage, and even… a prison. So many lives in these stones!
Angela: the sun begins to set behind the battlements of the towers. It’s time to head back. We still have a couple of hours’ drive to Sinaia, but with these landscapes, it’s never boring.
Piero: the van glides through golden hills and silent forests. By the time we arrive in Sinaia, it’s already dark.
Angela: an intense but beautiful day. Today we touched the Middle Ages with our own hands. And Transylvania… has won us over once again.
