In the city of Sibiu, in Transilvania, central Romania

 “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?” ― John Steinbeck

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(in Transylvania, central Romania) The city of Sibiu is known for Germanic architecture in its Old Town, the legacy of 12th-century Saxon settlers. Around the city are the remains of medieval walls and towers, including the 13th-century Council Tower. In the upper town, Brukenthal Palace now houses the Brukenthal National Museum. The nearby Evangelical Cathedral has gravestones in its walls. Sibiu is found along the Cibin River on the north side of the Turnu Roșu (“Red Tower”) Pass, linking Transylvania with southern Romania across the Southern Carpathians. Initially a Daco-Roman city called Cedonia, Sibiu's later Latin name, Cibinium, was derived from that of the river, a tributary of the Olt, which rises in the Cibin Mountains southwest of the city. Sibiu was refounded by German colonists in the 12th century as Hermannsdorf (later Hermannstadt). The Old Town consists of two parts: the upper town built on a terrace and the lower town on the banks of the Cibin -- which are connected via 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 color of the walls, which repelled several Turkish attacks in the 15th and 16th centuries. During that time, Sibiu was an important craft and cultural center of the German communities in Transylvania, boasting 19 guilds in 1376. By 1541, Transylvania had become an autonomous 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 center of Transylvania and, on two occasions (1703–91 and 1849–65), it served as the region's capital. With the rest of Transylvania, it was ceded to Romania in 1918, at the end of World War I.

+ The historic center of Sibiu is still partially enclosed by its original 12th-century medieval walls. Begin your visit to the city in its central square, the Piata Mare, home to the Brukenthal Palace, containing the main halls of the Brukenthal National Museum. Descend the Passage of the Stairs down into lower Sibiu, and cross the "Bridge of Lies," -- which is said to creak at any sign of "double-crossing" pedestrians. A trek in the nearby Făgăraș Mountains will lead you past breathtaking ridges and serene glacial lakes. In addition to the parts of the old fortifications that remain, many of the medieval houses within the walls are considered historical monuments. The Brukenthal Museum was founded by Samuel Brukenthal, governor of Transylvania (in the late 1700s), in his own Austrian Baroque residence with his collection of paintings, antiques, engravings, and books; it also houses important collections in ethnography, folk art, and natural science.