Sibiu

A few interesting facts and anecdotes attract visitors every year to Sibiu. The city was once the capital of the Habsburg Empire during the 19th century and was built inside a large medieval fortification. Sibiu is known as the home of the first printing house in Romania where the first Romanian newspaper and encyclopedia came out and, later, home to the first open-air cinema. The oldest museum in Romania, Bruckenthal, hosts art and stamp collections. Sibiu is also the place where the first mental health hospital in Romania was established. The “Bridge of Lies (Podul minciunilor)” is the first cast iron bridge built in Romania. The bridge acquired its name from the many legends surrounding it, many of which are romantic tales of encounters or love stories. According to the real explanation, the bridge of lies got its name from the German word for “lying bridge” as in “to lie down” that sounded very similar to the verb “to lie” as in “to tell lies”.  Right outside the city, Păltiniș, a famous ski resort, attracts visitors in the winter.

History of Sibiu 

Sibiu appeared in documents for the first time in the 12th century as “Cibinium” (Latin). The medieval fortress of Sibiu was one of the largest edifices of its kind on the territory of Romania, built and consolidated over three centuries. The citadel was known as “The Red City” because of the type of construction materials used. Red bricks were the main component of walls, towers, and defense bastions covered by red tile roofs. “Cetății (fortress)” Street, the best preserved part of the fortification, has today become the most visited area which attracts tourists and locals due to its medieval atmosphere.

On the South side of the city, one can still see fortified walls and four towers: the Potters’ tower, the Archers’ tower, the Carpenters’ Tower, and the Thick Tower. The Potters’ Tower was built during the 15th century by Saxon pottery artisans. The Haller Bastion was erected during the second half of the 16th century. The “Stairs Passage” built during the 14th century connects the “Lower Town” to the “Upper Town. ”

The Thick Tower, or Thalia Hall, built in the year 1540, is a massive construction in the shape of a ‘U’, extending a few meters outside the fortification walls. Made of stone at the bottom and brick at the top, the structure was designed as a platform for defense, capable of holding other defense towers. In 1788, it was repurposed as a theater, and today it is a concert hall.

Festivals and Community Events

The Large (Main) Square and the Small Square bring locals and visitors together during the day as well as in the evening. Picturesque houses, museums, shops, restaurants, an artisan market, and street artists come together to form a vivid and bohemian atmosphere where people explore or just spend time outside enjoying cultural and social activities.

The International Theater Festival is one of the most important annual festivals of performing arts in Romania and one of the most important in the world. Taking place over one week in June, the festival brings to the Large Square street performances, dance, theatre, music concerts, circus performances, as well as painting and photography exhibitions, book launches, and more.

The Astra Open Air Museum, located near Sibiu, in the forest of Dumbrava Sibiului, a protected area, is a museum dedicated to village life. It is part of the Astra National Museum Complex which manages three other collections and museums: the Museum of Transylvanian Civilisation, the Collection of Saxon Ethnography, and the Franz Binder Collection of Universal Ethnography. The open air museum showcases 400 houses and installations that portray rural lifestyle, culture, traditions, folk civilization, and architecture in the multiethnic region of Transylvania. The Museum of Transylvanian Civilisation exhibits textiles, embroidery, peasant art objects, ceramics, and documentary graphics collections.

The Multicultural Museum Pavilion, located at the main entrance to the Open Air Museum, a new building erected in 2001, houses spaces for temporary exhibitions and conferences. The Open Air Museum hosts multiple events every year. The Romanian Folk Creators’ Fair brings together artisans from all over Romania and Moldova to showcase their craftsmanship and handcrafted objects. Astra Multicultural is the only major event in Romania to celebrate multi-ethnic diversity bringing together craftspeople of diverse cultures: Saxons, Hungarians, Jews, Roma, Lipovans, Greeks, Serbs, Croats, and Slovaks. Among other large multicultural cities in Romania such as Târgu-Mureș, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Sibiu can perhaps be considered as promoting the most inclusive community of all where a diverse administrative council encourages the affirmation of all cultures.

The Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse celebrates the “ia”, a blouse specific to Romanian folk costumes, which became part of the UNESCO Intangible World Cultural Heritage in December 2022. It is an event that exhibits traditional handmade blouses and invites people who made them to share their unique talents, skills, and expertise with the public.

The Toy Fair invites children and adults to the Astra Museum to experience hand-making toys from natural materials. The museum also offers creative and educational workshops, skill-building workshops, discovery workshops under the careful guidance of craftspeople, as well as countless hours of play and experimentation, theatre performances, and music workshops.

The festival Beautiful. Ceramic. Useful. brings together pottery artists and cooks and promotes utilitarian ceramics, the art of pottery and cooking in traditional clay pots on an open hearth. This event encourages sustainable art and lifestyle, and ecological food choices.

Other events that attract diverse audiences are Astra Rock, a series of concerts that combine the traditional space with the modern music scene and the Country Fair which organizes gastronomic displays, tastings, and workshops.

Founded in 1993, the Astra Film Festival, the oldest film festival in Romania, offers unique locations to film enthusiasts and filmmakers to screen and watch documentaries that address important global social themes.

Learning Activities

Watch the video of the virtual tour of Sibiu and answer the following questions:

1. Observe the buildings and make a list of elements that stand out at the level of architecture, street activities, cultural aspects, commercial areas, etc.

2. What is your impression of the atmosphere of the city? Does Sibiu remind you of another city? Explain.

3. Try to identify the Large Square and the Small Square and notice the characteristics that differentiate one from the other.

Additional resources 

Astra Museum: https://muzeulastra.ro/en/galerie-foto/

Astra Film Festival (AFF): https://www.astrafilm.ro/en

Sibiu City Maps:  https://www.google.com/books/edition/City_Maps_Sibiu_Romania/gG82DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=sibiu&printsec=frontcover

Sibiu Virtual City Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzfn0yE901M