In the city of Sibiu, the historical region of Transylvania, in central Romania

 "How good and thoughtful he is; the world seems full of good men--even if there are monsters in it."-- Bram Stoker

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(in the historical region of Transylvania, in central Romania) Sibiu, a fortified medieval town, is located some 275 km (~171 mi.) northwest of Bucharest; it straddles the Cibin River. Now the seat of the Sibiu County, it was (between 1692 and 1791 and 1849–65) it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania. +Sibiu is a charming city in the heart of Transylvania, where history and culture blend harmoniously with modernity and nature. Sibiu boasts a stunning Gothic cathedral, a splendid Baroque palace, and a fascinating ethnographic museum that showcases the rich and diverse heritage of Romania. Sibiu is also a city of towers, each with its own story and personality, offering panoramic views of the Old Town and the surrounding hills. Sibiu is a great destination for those who love art, architecture, and adventure, as well as for those who want to discover the authentic and vibrant spirit of Transylvania.

+ Sibiu is found on the north side of the Turnu Roșu (“Red Tower”) Pass, which links Transylvania to southern Romania across the Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians). It 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, which rises in the Cibin Mountains southwest of the city. 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.

+ Massive brick walls erected around the upper town gave it the nickname “Red Town,” for the color of the walls, which repelled 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. In 1541 Transylvania became an autonomous Turkish vassal state; but, as the Turks later withdrew from Hungary, Austria regained Transylvania in 1699. Sibiu then became the military center of Transylvania and, on two occasions (1703–91 and 1849–65), the capital. (It was ceded to Romania in 1918.)

+ 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. Also in Sibiu are a massive Lutheran cathedral (built in the 13th and 15th centuries), an Orthodox cathedral (built 1906, modeled on Hagia Sofia in Istanbul), and an 18th-century Roman Catholic church.
+ Sibiu's Old Town (shown here) has a distinctly Germanic feeling. Sections of the medieval wall still guard the historic area, before opening into vast, church-dominated squares -- and the Bidge of Lies).