Sibiu - The City Hall

The beautiful building, situated in the Great Square, has been the City Hall of Sibiu since 2006. 

It was built in 1906 in the shape of a horseshoe, and for a century it served as the Agricultural Credit Bank headquarters.
Later it was occupied by the Savings and Loans Bank.

Sibiu - The Great Square

First mentioned in 1411 as a grain market, 

the Great Square – the largest square in the city, 

has been throughout the centuries a quiet witness to the town's lively merchant activity, assemblies and even public executions. 

Located in the heart of the old walled city, the square was designated an architectural monument by UNESCO, 

and features some of the most impressive buildings in Sibiu.

Sibiu - The Council Tower

One main landmark of Sibiu is the Council Tower. 

The tower is located right between the Great Square and the Little Square 

and the passage between those two is made under the tower, for people and cars also.

Its name is related to the next building, which was the first Town Hall of the city, 

and it was used as entrance gate to the second row of fortified walls built around Sibiu. 

The structure dates from the 13th century, 

although you won't see much evidence of that fact and the tower no longer has its original shape. 

Only the part up to the first floor dates from that early tower. 

The rest of the tower collapsed in 1545, 

was gradually rebuilt and was renovated and reconstructed again during the 1700s. 

It wasn't until 1826 that the very top floor was built, and the bulb added to the pyramidal roof (itself only dating from the 1700s).

Throughout the centuries, the Council Tower served as a grain storehouse, 

a fire watchtower, a temporary prison and even as a museum of natural sciences. 

On the top floor, an observation deck allows a bird's-eye view of the historic town and the Fagaras Mountains beyond.

Hooves

"Again the early-morning sun was generous with its warmth.  

All the sounds dear to a horseman were around me - 

the snort of the horses as they cleared their throats, 

the gentle swish of their tails, 

the tinkle of irons as we flung the saddles over their backs - 

little sounds of no importance, 

but they stay in the unconscious library of memory."

Wynford Vaughan-Thomas

Red Splash

"The true color of life is the color of the body, 

the color of the covered red, 

the implicit and not explicit red of the living heart and the pulses. 

It is the modest color of the unpublished blood."

Alice Meynell