Back in Sibiu
After 7 years, I have returned to Sibiu in December of 2014. One of my first blog posts ever on CityoftheWeek was about this beautiful city! Although we initially came for the Christmas Market, on the second day we managed to look around and explore the city a bit, so I’m here to tell you about all the places I hadn’t talked about last time.
back in Sibiu
We started our sightseeing day from Huet square, and after a delicious coffee in Kleines cafe we made our way towards the old town area of Sibiu. I’ve never been in this part of town before, but I just loved the details of the streets and lovely colorful houses located in the area.
Kleines Cafe and Huet square Sibiu
On Tower street we found a lovely hidden wine cellar between some old buildings and somehow I felt that we weren’t in Romania anymore, but in a lovely little town in Austria:
Wine cellar on Tower Street Sibiu
After we got on top of the stairs we encountered a wood pillar with a lot of nails hit in it, and a signpost saying “This is the journeymen’s guildhouse. It is currently renovated by us for food and lodging. We appreciate every donation. Thank you!” – in four languages.
in front of the journeymen’s guildhouse in Sibiu
We walked past the Small Square (Piata Mica), which has some pretty colorful houses with matching Venetian blinds:
colorful houses on Small Square/ Piata Mica Sibiu
Then we headed towards the Council Tower of Sibiu, where we decided to climb to the top of it to get a better view of the city. The entrance fee is 2 Ron (approx. 0.4 euros), and there was a photography exhibition on the main floor. Once inside, you need to climb up the stairs to get the best view of the city. There is a look-out tower from the Evangelical church as well (of which you can see photos in the old post of Sibiu), but I think this one is prettier. Before you get to the last level, take a minute and admire the old tower clock, still functioning today with the same technique. There are signposts in four languages, describing the brief history of the tower and the main square on the upper level. Here you will get to see a 360-degree panoramic view of the city, since there are windows in all four corners of the tower.
Council Tower Sibiu
View of Sibiu from the Council Tower
We circled the main square and initially wanted to see a collection in the Bruckenthal Museum, but after we and some other people entered a very nervous man started yelling at us with the worst grin on his face to close the door after ourselves, and we just decided to leave.
We went to see the city walls, part of the old fortress, that were still standing, and took a walk in the park next to it.
old city walls of Sibiu
old city walls and decor cannon in Sibiu
We got to the Natural History Museum and decided to take a look at the collection they had there, and I have to say that it was the best decision we took during that trip. If you’re wondering about the plastic dinosaurs in the garden area, yes, there was a dinosaur expo, mostly for children. It made me a bit skeptical at first. But once we got in, professionalism was written all over the place. The floor and the ceiling were dated from 1894 (!) and were extremely well-preserved. Honestly, the ceiling is one of the most beautiful ones I’ve ever seen… The collection of the museum is grand, having everything from a mineral collection to stuffed animals. My favorite part was the sea animal chamber, but I decided not to post a photo of it – so you’d go check it out for yourself! 🙂 We spent about three hours there, reading about the place’s history, and the various collections on display.
Natural History Museum of Sibiu
ceiling in the Natural History Museum of Sibiu
If you have enough time, you might want to check out the The Astra Museum Complex in Sibiu, some Forgotten Fortified Saxon Churches and Medias Historical Center.
Pin the post to help spread the word:
Previous Post
Next Post
I LOVE Sibiu, it’s my favorite city in Romania, I’ve visited every year since 2011, haha. Good thing you didn’t visit Bruckenthal, it’s so boring, haha. I’m not an art lover and I was bored enough when I first visited. I went there for the second time with other people and they were looking at each painting for a few minutes, I felt like poking my eyes out of boredom, lol 😀 I still haven’t been to the Natural History Museum, I’ll probably go this year.
By the way, I liked the tower of the Evangelical Church better because you could open the windows and take pictures 😀
I love it too! You should definitely visit the Natural History Museum if you’re into that kind of stuff – it was a very pleasant surprise, I didn’t expect the experience to be so high-quality!
I liked the view from there too, but prefer from the Council tower because I can see the church from there 🙂 (which I think is extremely beautiful)
nice post. I was in Sibiu at the end of 2011, in a golden autumn. I enjoyed the center and its surroundings and I loved the Astra outside Museum…absolutely great feeling walking around the lake, admiring the old houses and mills and laying in a stack of hay 🙂
Thank you for your comment Beldi! 🙂
We didn’t make it to the Astra this time, unfortunately! 🙁 But from what I heard and read, you can easily spend half a day wandering around, and it’s an absolute must-see. We’ve left it for “next time” which will hopefully be this year 🙂
You should also visit the Astra Museum, it is very cool!
Nice photos! 🙂
Thank you, I will! 🙂