Medieval Citadel and Royal Carpathian Castle

This past weekend, I took the road to visit Sighisoara. About two hours drive Southeast of Cluj, Sighisoara was built in the 12th century and is known to be one of the best preserved medieval citadel in Europe. Still inhabited, it is registered to the UNESCO world heritage. It is also the birthplace of count Vlad Dracul (yes, the one who inspired the story of Dracula). The citadel hosts every year a medieval festival attended by thousands of people.

There are many landmarks in the citadel, as you will see below. The only downside is they were in the process of repaving the center of the citadel, and the whole area was a real mess.

The Clock Tower viewed from one of the entrance to the citadel.

The clock tower. The four small corner turrets on top of the tower symbolized the judicial autonomy of the Town Council.

There are several dials in the clock tower facing the city. One of them indicates what day of the week it is. Characters turn at midnight and appear in a window. Here Sunday, followed by Monday (with a moon symbol on his head).

The church on top of the citadel. You go there by taking the covered stairways below.

A street in the citadel.

The tanner tower.

Locals welcoming visitors. The guy with the axe made you feel particularly welcome.

On Sunday, I proceeded South to Sinaia, which is in the Carpathian mountains, south of Brasov. Sinaia is a ski resort, but also the place where you can find the Peles Castle. Peles castle was built between 1873 and 1914 by King Carol I of Romania. It was seized by communists, but in 2006, the Romanian government restituted the castle to king Michael I of Romania. The castle is a neo-renaissance style and has great ornaments, elements of furniture etc. coming from all over Europe.

There are two castles there. This is the small one.

Another view of the small castle. I really like the small windows on the roof.

And this is the Peles Castle.

Another view.

King Carol I was a great armor and weapons collector. There is an impressive collection there.

The spiral stairway inside the great hall is here just for decor.

King Carol I private room.

This a house in the neighborhood, across the Peles monastery.

And another one. I thought "Villa Mon Vieux" was particularly cute.

Ciao Cluj!