Discover Sibiu

About Sibiu

Sibiu is one of the best-preserved medieval Saxon towns in Transylvania, founded by German colonists in the 12th century and laid out in the curious double-level configuration that gives the Old Town its unique character: the Upper Town (Oraşul de Sus), where the patrician Saxons lived around three connected squares; and the Lower Town (Oraşul de Jos), where the artisans and traders worked. The two are linked by atmospheric covered staircases and the famous Bridge of Lies (Podul Minciunilor, 1859) — the first iron bridge in Romania, which reputedly groans when a lie is told above it. The three squares of the Upper Town — Piața Mare (the Big Square), Piața Mică (the Little Square), and Piața Huet (the Cathedral Square) — are the visual heart, framed by tall, narrow Saxon merchant houses with the famously curious 'eyes of Sibiu' (small almond-shaped attic windows that seem to watch you from above). Climb the panoramic 60m Council Tower for the view, visit the spectacular Gothic Lutheran Cathedral (with the tomb of the impaled Mihnea the Bad), and don't miss the brilliant Brukenthal Museum — the oldest art museum in Romania (1817), with an excellent collection of European Old Masters. Sibiu was European Capital of Culture in 2007 and the legacy has stuck — great food, regenerated youth quarters, and the famous summer International Theatre Festival.