Sibiu Medieval Town

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Sibiu was initially a Daco-Roman city called Cedonia. Its later Latin name, Cibinium, was derived from that of the river, a tributary of the Olt.

Sibiu was refounded by Saxon (German) colonists in the 12th century as Hermannsdorf (later Hermannstadt). The old medieval town is in two parts, the upper town built on a terrace and the lower town on the banks of the Cibin, the two being connected through an old district by narrow, cobbled alleys called the Fingerling Stairway.



A citadel, built by the Saxon settlers in the 13th century, was destroyed by the Tatars in 1241 and rebuilt in the 14th century. Massive brick walls erected around the upper town gave it the nickname “Red Town,” for the colour of the walls, which repelled several Turkish attacks in the 15th and 16th centuries.

During that time, Sibiu was an important craft and cultural centre of the German communities in Transylvania, boasting 19 guilds in 1376.



In 1541 Transylvania became a Turkish vassal state; but, as the Turks later withdrew from Hungary, Austria regained Transylvania after brief Romanian opposition in 1699. Sibiu then became the military centre of Transylvania and, on two occasions (1703–91 and 1849–65), the capital. With the rest of Transylvania, it was ceded to Romania in 1918.



Parts of the old fortifications remain, and many of the medieval houses within the walls are historical monuments. Of the 40 watchtowers on the original inner city wall, three remain—the octagonal tower of the carpenters, the square tower of the potters, and the pentagonal tower of the cloth makers.



In 1859 the old wooden pedestrian bridge over the Ocnei Street, which connects the old town to the new, was rebuilt by the firm Friedrich Hütte. It was the first-cast iron bridge in Romania and also the first without any pylons. Because of this last fact, it was also called the bridge that lays which sounds a lot like the bridge that lies and started four legends which were passed down from generation to generation. During the winter holidays, it is decorated with an arch made of Christmas lights.



The legends

No. 1 - It is said that the bridge has the power to tell if somebody is lying at the moment of crossing it and makes strange noises as if it would collapse and punish the liar.

No. 2 - The Casanova myth. The Bridge of Lies supposedly earned its name because it was a meeting place for first dates. Cadets from the military academy would meet girls and make promises which they never intended to keep.

No. 3 - The horror story. Similarly to the previous legend: the young ladies in search of husbands would declare their love and swear to their virginity on the bridge. If, in the wedding night, it turned out that they lied, the brides would be thrown from the bridge as punishment.

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