Today we visited Sibiu - European Capital of Culture in 2007 and one of the most important cultural centres of Romania. It is the centre of the Transylvanian Saxons and a beautiful city full of live. It was ranked as "Europe's 8th-most idyllic place to live" by Forbes in 2008.
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| Hotel Imparatul Romanilor |
The Holy Trinity Cathedral was built in the style of a Byzantine basilica, inspired by Hagia Sophia, with the main spires influenced by Transylvanian church architecture.
In 1857 the Metropolitan Andrei Şaguna (bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Transylvania and one of the Romanian community political leaders in the Habsburg Monarchy) asked Emperor Franz Joseph I for permission to send a circular to his diocese requesting that priests and laymen give donations. He sent the letter before Christmas that year, and the first donor was the Emperor himself, who gave 1000 gold coins, followed by the governor of Transylvania with 50, Şaguna with 2000 florins, and many others. Donations continued to come in and finally work began in 1902 and was finished in 1904.
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| Remains of the city wall with the Cooper's tower |
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| Most of the houses in the centre are renovated, but not all |
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| Liars Bridge |
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| Lutheran cathedral in the back |
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| Council Tower of Sibiu |
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| Lutheran Cathedral under major renovation |
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| I bought something which looked like spanish pisto |
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| ... but I resisted to buy a hat ;-) |
At the Piata Mare - the main square - a presentation of the fire brigades of Sibiu took place when we passed it. We watched the parade with a brass band playing after the mayoress had finally finished her speech.
At the Cafe Wien we stopped for a special treat with delicious coffee and hot chocolate, while a Viennese radio station was playing in the background. Edi had a chat with the barista while he involved him in a foto shooting.
