Our Last Day in Sighisoara

Ciao Again,

Tuesday was our last full day in Sighisoara, and we tried to make the most of it by being early to all the sights we wanted to tour. We had spent the last two days just wandering around, taking a lot of pictures, getting a lot of exercise, and just soaking up the sights and the atmosphere, but Tuesday was a day for touring the inside of some buildings. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I took more random shots of things on the street, like plants and teddy bears in windows.

Before lunch we toured the Evangelical Lutheran Church down in the Old City. Photographs were not allowed, which is a shame because it's a fascinating building. The church was originally a Dominican Church which was converted to a Lutheran Church after the Reformation, when most Saxons converted to Protestantism. Some notable features are the Turkish prayer rugs, and the painted wooden balconies.

Sighisoara was a major stop on the East-West trade route in medieval times, and many of the wealthy merchants in town had Oriental rugs. Over time they donated many of these rugs for use in the church, and today the church boasts a huge collection of Turkish rugs from the 14, 15, and 1600's. They are quite beautiful and are hanging around the inside walls of the church.

Another notable feature is the painted wooden balconies. Each guilt painted scenes from the Bible, but often scenes which feature something pertaining to their guild, on the panels of the wooden balcony. Some of the scenes reminded us of Bosch paintings, with little figures falling out of the sky or demon creatures with many legs appearing out of clouds. Jimmy was also fascinated by the Masonic imagery in many of the panels.

In addition to these features the church had beautifully carved wooden pews, a lovely carved baptismal font, a huge organ and an impressive altarpiece. Fortunately they sold postcards of the interior so we bought some of the balcony paintings as well as the organ.

Evangelical Church

White Blooms

After touring the church we ate lunch at what really is the best pizza in Sighisoara. La Perla had good pizza, but the salami was pressed meat---more like bologna than salami. San Gennaro, despite it's lack of salads or decent coffee, had one mean Pizza Diavla. Our niece Paige is doing a Flat Stanley-like program at school where the children send their own picture to family and friends. So, we took some pictures of Flat Paige eating pizza. Here she is.

A Great Picture of Jimmy and Flat Paige

Flat Paige Eating Pizza Diavla

This next picture requires a little explanation. On Sunday we ate at this same restaurant, and were watching dogs roam around the square while we ate. In Romania, dogs are everywhere. Friendly intelligent mutts they are---you rarely see a pure breed, and you rarely see on on a leash. Anywhere else in the world I believe you would see ten times more run-over dogs, but not here. They seem to know how to keep out of the way of cars, they seem to know how to obligingly beg a few morsels without being too annoying. They are one of the most fun sights in the entire country----dogs with what I would call a truly Romanian character.

Well, on Sunday, as we were watching dogs go by, dogs greet tourists, dogs beg a quick morsel, we heard a snarling and barking sound, and looked up to see the dog pictured below ambled away from another dog. The waiter said, "He is the Bad Dog. He does not like other dogs."

During our entire stay we watched "The Bad Dog". He was a friendly dog, to humans anyway, who had made the main square his territory. He was friendly and welcoming to children and grown-ups alike, and would roll over to expose his belly and get some pets. But let another dog come into his sight, be it on a leash or loose, he would let loose a snarl and a bark and would make sure it was known that the other dog was intruding on HIS territory. We jokingly started calling him "Old Bad Ass". Here is Old Bad Ass.

The Bad Dog

After lunch we climbed the Clock Tower. It has been converted into a history museum with small but interesting exhibits. The stairs are narrow and creaking, and you wind your way up up up until you are in the clock room where you can view the inside gears of the giant clock. From here you may walk out onto the porch area on the outside of the tower. The view was awesome but unfortunately they charge you a good bit to take photographs, and they have a guard watching to fine you if you take them without having purchased a photography ticket, so we opted not to take any. I almost wish I had paid the fee, however, because the view was really pretty. To make up for it I took yet another in a long series of pictures of the clock tower once we got outside and were sitting on a bench planning our next move.

The last stop on our afternoon of touring the monuments we'd been looking at for two days was to the stop of the hill to tour the inside of the Biserica din Deal. The Church on the Hill is also an Evangelical Lutheran Church, dating from pre-Reformation times. Many of these old churches had frescoes when they were Catholic churches, which were then painted over during the Reformation when excessive ornamentation was considered to be particularly Catholic. Upon renovating this church in the early 90's some of the original frescoes were uncovered and an attempt to preserve them was made. They are not fully intact, but they give the impression of great mystery and beauty, and you can imagine what the church must have looked like inside when they were fully intact.

Another interesting feature of this church is that it possesses a fully intact crypt below the sanctuary. The entrance to the crypt is in front of the nave. All of these churches are cool to the point of being cold on the inside, and it's like having air conditioning even without it on a hot day. The crypt was even colder and had a dank earthy smell. It was very dark and mysterious.

My favorite part of the church was the remains of the frescoes and the Saxon dowry chests. Of all the churches I've seen, this is one of my favorites. My other two favorites are the one in Mosna, which I saw in the fall, and the one in Malancrav, which we saw for the first time the next day. But you'll have to read on to hear all about that one.

After exiting the church (where once again no photography was allowed, otherwise I would be supplying you with numerous gorgeous shots of the inside) we took our last long walk through the meandering hillside cemetery.

Here are some more shots of the Ropemakers' Tower which is inhabited by the church caretaker.

Front Door of Ropemakers' Tower

Plants on Front Stoop of Ropemakers' Tower

Top of Ropemakers' Tower

Here are some views of the trees and the Old City below, from the hilltop.

Valley and Town from the Hilltop

In celebration of our last night we ate at Casa Cu Cerb again. Also because we didn't want pizza or a chilly hostel environment, and it was about the best bang for the buck we could find.

I had been trying traditional food everywhere, but on this night, I ordered the wiener schnitzel. Jimmy's was so delicious the night before, and I just wanted something basic and hearty. It came with the sauteed vegetables and boiled potatoes. I also ordered some pickled cauliflour because I love the pickled vegetables in this part of the world.

Jimmy and I switched roles because on this night, he ordered the Saxon Rolled Roast. For dessert, we ordered the same thing as the night before---chocolate and blackberry pancakes. Here are the pictures.

Filled Romanian Dessert Pancakes

The next morning we said good-bye to Sighisoara and set off for more adventures in Malancrav. Read on to find out what a wonderful time we had staying in a Saxon guest house in Malancrav.

Ciao!