Sighisoara, Transylvania

​Sighisoara is a medieval city in the center of Transylvania, modern-day Romania, founded in the 12th century.

Set on top of a hill, the city was surrounded by a defense wall that held 14 towers. Each of these towers was built, manned, and maintained by the city’s 14 guilds, which included groups like the Blacksmiths, Butchers, Weavers, Rope Makers, Leather Tanners, and Tailors guilds, in exchange for commercial privileges. The towers were all designed to act as their own individual fortresses.

Nine of the towers are still in place. The largest, the Clock Tower, was built in the 14th century and still guards the main entrance into the city. Two wooden drummers emerge every 15 minutes to tell the time and on every hour, the large bell rings. 

The city still holds many old buildings, including the house in which Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) was born in 1431 - now open as a restaurant with a museum (including a variety haunted house experience!)

Two Gothic churches, and the residence of a blacksmith that survived the devastating fire of 1676 thanks to the water well inside the house. On the other side of the hill, just outside the city walls, is the old cemetery, which holds old tombstones of important people from the history of Sighișoara.