11. The buildings of the Small Square
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The historical tint of the Small Square will entice your curiosity. Learn more about homes with legs and eyes. We invite you to go on foot or just with your eyes to the building that clearly draws your attention, the Luxembourg House. The red - orange one to the left of the Bridge of Lies. Nearby, on the same side, you will find the open loggias of the houses preserved since the XV-XVI centuries. Among these, the Shoemakers’ passage connects the Small Square with the Huet Square. Further to the left, you will notice a facade different from the rest, shaped as turreted stairs - the Hermes House.
Across the road, you can see the northern side of the Roman Catholic Church, and the entrance to the former crypt, turned into a café-bookstore in 2007. The Roman Catholic parish, built in the Baroque style in the eighteenth century by Jesuit monks, is attached to the church building.
The row of arches continues to the left of the Council Tower. Until the 19th - 20th centuries, the buildings hosted a grocery store, a cloth shop, a pharmacy, a musical instrument store and a butcher's shop. On the corner, beneath the Goldsmiths Stairs Tower, you can descend to the market with the same name.
Further on, the loggia of the House of Arts will entice you. Take a walk under the picturesque arches, next to the Astra galleries. From here, you can admire and purchase authentic traditional souvenirs.
Upstairs, you can admire the temporary exhibitions of the ASTRA National Museum Complex. A medallion with the city's coat of arms decorates the facade.
It is hard to imagine that you are in a former butcher's house, isn’t it? Just a few steps away, passers-by rush to take a photo on the Bridge of Lies.
🤔 Did you know?
🔍 Until 2019, “Hermes House” hosted the "Franz Binder Museum", the first Museum of Universal Ethnography in Romania. Today, the building is the headquarters of Astra Film Fest.
Across the road, you can see the northern side of the Roman Catholic Church, and the entrance to the former crypt, turned into a café-bookstore in 2007. The Roman Catholic parish, built in the Baroque style in the eighteenth century by Jesuit monks, is attached to the church building.
The row of arches continues to the left of the Council Tower. Until the 19th - 20th centuries, the buildings hosted a grocery store, a cloth shop, a pharmacy, a musical instrument store and a butcher's shop. On the corner, beneath the Goldsmiths Stairs Tower, you can descend to the market with the same name.
Further on, the loggia of the House of Arts will entice you. Take a walk under the picturesque arches, next to the Astra galleries. From here, you can admire and purchase authentic traditional souvenirs.
Upstairs, you can admire the temporary exhibitions of the ASTRA National Museum Complex. A medallion with the city's coat of arms decorates the facade.
It is hard to imagine that you are in a former butcher's house, isn’t it? Just a few steps away, passers-by rush to take a photo on the Bridge of Lies.
🤔 Did you know?
🔍 Until 2019, “Hermes House” hosted the "Franz Binder Museum", the first Museum of Universal Ethnography in Romania. Today, the building is the headquarters of Astra Film Fest.
🔍 Between 1877 and 1883, George Barițiu lived in the Lesser Square, at the number 26. The same building housed the editorial room of the “Transilvania” magazine and the newspaper “Observatorul”, both founded by Barițiu.
🔍 The almond-shaped skylights / roof windows are specific to the historical center of Sibiu. They are known as "Sibiu’s eyes".
