The Zoo

The Munitions Tower is located in the yard of Independenţa Vocational School, in the North of the citadel, on Ocnei Street. It was built in 1552 on the place of an older blacksmiths tower, and it used to be part of the strongest fortified compound of the city, that used to defend the Pit Gate (or the Cobblers Gate). The name of the tower comes from its purpose at the time, being a tower for the storage of the powder required for the light and heavy firearms and a defensive tower. It is a massive circular layout tower, having a roof with thick walls, with small size fire holes, built in such a way as to withstand siege gunfire. Only a small portion is exposed towards the exterior side. The access to the inside used to be done through a ramp that led to the entry located towards the current Zidului Street and towards the guard road of the wall. The tower’s lightning rod is preserved until today. The tower was rehabilitated during 1974 and 1975, its last purpose being to accommodate the creation shops of the Artists Union.

The Leather Merchants Tower, also known as the Small Powder Tower, is located on Pulberăriei Strteet and is dating since the 15th century, being one of the two towers preserved in the Lower Town. The tower used to be part of the fourth fortification belt of Sibiu. The name of the tower comes from the leather merchants’ guild who had their shops in this part of town and were in charge of its security and maintenance. The Leather Merchants Tower has an octagonal shape and is built on four levels, the last one being protuberant with a pyramid shaped roof. Here we can see large cannon embrasures for the first time. Each side of the tower has black oil holes and firing embrasures for light artillery, more numerous on the exterior side. The roof has a rectangular shaped metal wind flag, which seems to have appeared recently, after the mid of the 19th century. The Leather Merchants Tower is considered a great survivor of Sibiu City, being destroyed and rebuilt several times over the years. During the great fire of March 31st 1566, the tower exploded due to the powder stored therein. The tower was afterwards affected by a catastrophic fire which occurred on September 7th 1570, followed by a third explosion on August 28th 1638 due to a lightning. It was rebuilt during the same year.

The Potters Tower is located on Cetăţii Street, between the Gunsmiths Tower and the Woodworkers Tower, being connected to the latter through a wall from the precincts of the third fortification of Sibiu. The tower was built in the 14th century, being subject to several alternations and modification over the years. The current shape is dating since the 16th century. The Potters Tower is made of stone and brick, having a rectangular shape at the base, after which the tower shrinks at the intermediate floor, only to end at the top through the classical protuberant portion supported by consoles with fire holes between the arches. At the first and second level there are ramparts shaped as keyholes especially made to enable harquebuses fire. The superior side of the tower is protuberant and it leans on consoles, like the majority of the towers of Sibiu.

The Gunsmiths Tower, later called the Drapers (Wavers) Tower, is the Southernmost of the three defensive towers built on Cetăţii Street. It is dating since the 14th century and is part of the third fortification belt of Sibiu. Its name comes from the ramparts shaped like keyholes on the first level of the tower, which allowed the passage of harquebuses. The Gunsmiths Tower is made of stone (up to approximately 1 m high) and of brick (from approximately 1 m to the top). It is shaped like an orthogonal prism. Five of its sides are located on the outside of the fortified precincts. The superior side of the tower is protuberant and it leans, as well as the majority of Sibiu’s towers, on consoles with connection arches provided with dropping holes. On the inside, the tower had two patrol paths used as manoeuvre area and deployment location of the soldiers during defence battles. It is considered that the current tower resulted from the transformation and super-elevation of an older one.

The Woodworkers Tower is the Northernmost of the towers on Cetăţii Street, built in the 14th century and being part of the third fortification belt of Sibiu City. Its name comes from the Woodworkers guild which was appointed to maintain and defend it. The Woodworkers Tower is made of stone and brick, having a circular shape at the base, delimited from the next portion by a clean-cut cornice, after which the tower turns into the shape of an octagonal prism, finalized at the upper side by a protuberant piece, supported by consoles with mouths between the arches. At the first level of the tower there are ramparts shaped like keyholes, made especially to enable harquebuses fire. The superior side of the tower is protuberant and it leans on consoles that have connections arches provided with dropping holes.

This is the first ever bastion built in Sibiu and one of the oldest of Transylvania, its construction being started in 1551 by the Habsburg military commander Castaldo, based on the layouts of architect Alessandro Clippa, during the Mayorship of Petru Haller. The bastion was supposed to provide security for the road coming from Brașov as well as for the South-Eastern corner of the citadel. Haller Bastion is made of brick and filled with soil, having walls with a total length of 223 m and a maximum height of 9 m. Its shape is similar to the ace of spades. For a better defence, the walls are provided at approx. 1 m from the upper limit with spacers made of rock that would prevent the installation of siege ladders. The openings of the blockhouses for the cannons are preserved to this day, both towards the Thick Tower (two), as well as towards Manejului Street (three). The “eyes” camouflaging the blockhouses that used to provide fire cover of the bastion flanks are noticeable. The Bastion stood against the sieges of Sibiu during 1602-1603, 1658, 1704, but most of all against the one from 1660 led by Gheorgy Rackoczy the 2nd. In 1771, since it was no longer necessary for the protection of the citadel, Haller Bastion was used by the Austrian army, the owner of the land, as equestrianism school. The school was active until 1911, when the Public Financial Administration took over the bastion and opened a midwives school which subsequently became a maternity hospital.

The Thick Tower, located on Cetății Street and on Corneliu Coposu Avenue, is a massive construction on a semicircle U-shaped layout, protruding approx. 25 meters outside the exterior wall. The walls are made of brick, with stones at the base, having a platform on which the cannons used to be placed. The tower was built around the year 1540 by Markus Pempfflinger, the royal judge of Sibiu, and it was part of the fortifications subsequently included into the city’s defensive belt. On the inside there used to be blockhouses provided with fire holes. Two brick ducts have also been discovered, one thought to have served for water drainage from the exterior ditch and the other one for the communication between the defence soldiers standing on each side of the tower. At the initiative of Martin Hochmeister, typographer and initiator of the first bookshop of Romania, who became the mayor of Sibiu, a hall was included into the massive Thick Tower in 1787 – the Thalia Hall, where the first Romanian theatre was established and one of the few existing in Europe. The style of the hall was rococo and it used to have two balconies and one box reserved exclusively for the Governor of Transylvania. After it burnt during a fire, in 1826, the theatre building was rebuilt in a Viennese style. Romanian theatre troupes conducted by Mihail Pascaly, Tardini-Vlădicescu and Matei Millo have performed on the stage of this theatre. Later on, many personalities of the Romanian culture have performed on the stage of Sibiu theatre, among them the famous composer George Enescu. The theatre activated continuously in this hall until 1949, when another devastating fire took place. During 1990-2004, the County Council of Sibiu rebuilt the Thalia Hall, at the same time changing its purpose. Today, the Thalia Hall hosts the State Philharmonic of Sibiu.

In front of the Southern gate of the Evangelical Church there is the statues of Bishop Georg Daniel Teutsch (1817-1893), sculpted in brass in 1899 by Adolf von Donndorf. G. D. Teutsch was a bishop and historian, honorary member of ASTRA Association. The monument depicts him standing, in his sacerdotal habiliment, holding the Bible in his left hand and with his right hand leaning on a small column on which there are documents symbolizing the medieval rights enjoyed by the Saxons.

The only element that survived from the first defensive belt of the old citadel is the Stairs Tower, one of the few Roman constructions of Sibiu. This one is dating since the 13th century, the current shape being due to the modifications of 1542. The tower is shaped like a massive one-story brick construction, having at the first level an arched gangway that reaches the stairs which are connecting the Upper Town and the Lower Town towards Turnului Street, and on the side there is an arched gangway towards Redemption Corner (Busswinkel) below the curved wall that surrounds the garden of the parochial house. Right below the Stairs Tower, though a patio you can reach the yard of the Asylum Church, where allegedly existed an older building made of stone which was mentioned in a document of the year 1292 as being a hospital. It is the oldest document confirmation of a hospital in Romania. Below the arch of the Tower we go inside the Stairs Gangway (13th century), consisting of two stair lines and arcades – being one of the representative images of medieval Sibiu, as it is the exit gate towards the Lower City.