The Public Bath

Corneliu Coposu Avenue is entirely located in the ditch of the South-Eastern side of the 3rd precincts. On the right side of the avenue, coming from Andrei Şaguna Street (DN1), there is a part of the guard wall, on the left side there is a relatively intact Vauban fortification, with the Cisnădiei Gate Bastion, the Thick Tower and the Haller Bastion. The wall is crossed by several modern passages for the facilitation of pedestrian traffic. It is worth mentioning the so called „Plaque Hole” at the end of Ghe. Lazăr Street, flanked by two massive pilasters from the end of the 19th century, used in the precincts wall to facilitate the evacuation of bodies during the plague epidemic of the 16th century, to enable access to the city cemetery. Behind the Vauban fortification you can see the upper side of the three towers on Cetăţii Street, preserved intact from the walls of the 3rd original precincts’ fortification.

The gangway that connects the Small Square and the Goldsmiths Square, namely the second precincts with the fourth precincts of the city, is what subsisted to a strong gate bastion, the Goldsmiths Tower, wherefrom a part of the embattled wall is still preserved embedded in the wing of a civil construction subsequent to 1551.

The tower is overlapped with the gate tunnel with round arched dome, the opening towards the exterior of precincts III is flanked by two buttresses. The first floor integrated to Altemberger establishment (the old city hall), is round arched. On the side towards Brukenthal High School the communication with the building ensemble is preserved, creating the South-Western side of Huet Square currently replaced by Brukenthal High School. The tower’s roof has a short pyramidal shape.

The Roman-Catholic Parochial House is the first important attraction of the Large Square, being built in baroque style during 1726-1739. In the past, the building used to shelter the Jesuit Seminary. It includes fragments of the Skinners’ Hall. In 1466 this used to be the main office of the tailors’ guild, which in 1688 is organized for catholic services by the Jesuit monks. During 1774-1790, on the second floor there used to be the Catholic Elementary School, which was moved to the Ursulines’ building in order to give place to the State Secondary School that will activate until 1899, when the current building of Gheorghe Lazăr High School is inaugurated. During 1899 and 1907 the County Court will move here. Since the end of the 19th century, the ground-floor will accommodate stores. On the left side there used to be the first information office for hotels, coffee-shops and restaurants of Sibiu, Fleck & Preis, which was moved in 1907 to the Small Square, at no. 9, in order to give place to the Sibiu Branch of the Commercial Bank of Pesta. After 1920, when the bank was closed down, the place was occupied by Siebenbürgische Bank und Sparkasse until it was transferred to State ownership. In the patio of the Parochial House there is the statue of the Saint Martyr Johannes Nepomuk, which used to be initially in the Large Square from where it was removed by the communist regime. The statue was accommodated for a long period of time by the yard of the Brukenthal Museum, until it was moved to the patio.

The Zoo of Sibiu was founded in 1929, being the first zoo of Romania. The zoo was crated at the initiative of an engineer from the Electricity Company who had the idea after finding some foxes by the dam of Sadu. With donations, the small zoo increased its livestock. Boards, stags, eagles, a she-wolf, a wild cat and, since 1930, the first bear cub were brought to the zoo.  At the moment the zoo has an area of 20ha and it hosts over 300 animals of 70 species: bears, tigers, lions, jaguar, lamas, monkeys, Carpathian stags, deer, white buffalos, ponies, camels, zebras, mouflons, snakes, pheasants, parrots, peacocks, pigeons, etc.  At the entry of the zoo there is a secular oak that is approximately 600 years old.

The Hermes House is the former House of the Small Artisans Association, built during 1865-1867 – today the main office of ”Franz Binder” Universal Ethnography Museum. The archaeological researches over here led to the discovery of an old wooden house vestiges dating since the 12th century. The house is built in neo-gothic style, bringing elegance and distinction to the architectural setting of the Small Square of Sibiu. The name of the house comes from the Greek mythology, Hermes being the god of trade. The name represents a symbol, considering that, in the Middle Ages this was the place where the old merchants were trading. The building has a historical importance due to the fact that it is located in the oldest central area of Sibiu City, but also because, in times past, personalities of the time used to live here: Saxon Aldermen, royal judges of the 17th – 18th century, fact proven by the three stone plates which refer to the owners of the old building, previous to the House of the Small Artisans Association. Since 1993, the Hermes House accommodates the “Franz Binder” Universal Ethnography Museum, the first and only extra-European ethnography museum of Romania.

The Luxemburg House is located in the Small Square, at no. 16, being built on the first fortified precincts of Sibiu. The building has facades towards the Small Square and the Albert Huet Square and it consists of an old 15th century gothic wing and a new 19th century baroque wing. The edifice received its current denomination in 2004, with the occasion of the Great Duke Henri of Luxemburg and Great Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxemburg visit to Romania. It is worth mentioning that during 1999-2003 the building was rehabilitated with the support of the Great Duke of Luxemburg. At the ground-floor certain gothic and renaissance elements were preserved (frameworks, arches), but the building stands especially out because of its superb baroque woodwork and its decoration with mouldings at the upper floors. In the 19th century the edifice came into possession of the evangelical priest Johann Georg Schaser, hence the name it previously had.

The Lutsch House, located in the Large Square, at no. 13, was named in this manner after the name of one of its owners of the 16th century, being one of the most important buildings of the historical Sibiu. In the beginning the building had a four-storied tower-residence, similar to the one of the Haller House. The initial layout of the building can be reset based on the layout of the current cellar where certain details were faithfully preserved (stone frameworks with blunt edges, spiral stairs leading to the next floor as well as partial foundations of a chapel with a polygonal loft, in the posterior side of the house - St. Ladislau former chapel). Certain historians agree that this house was built in 1424 by King Sigismund, with the purpose of hosting the kings, voievodes and senior officials who were coming at the time to Sibiu. Up until the end of the 15th century, the house belonged to Altemberger Family, only to be owned during 1537-1593 by Haller Family. Subsequently, the edifice comes into possession of Johann Lutsch. In 1661 the building comes into possession of Georg Reussner and the “legend” has it that the house was allegedly won at a game of bowling. As a matter of fact, the blazon with the digits also displayed two hands, one of which holding a bowling pin. In 1821, the descendants of the last owner donate the building to the state. The last renovation took place in 1999.

The Weidner-Reussner-Czekelius House is located in the Large Square, at no. 16, its denomination coming from the names of three successive owners, who left their mark upon its architecture. The house was established by the annexation of two buildings dating since the 16th century. The right side of the building, where the gateway is located, used to belong to the Weidner Family and it subsequently became the property of Senator Johann Reussner-Jr. The other wing of the building, expanded in depth towards the yard, came to belong to the Czekelius Family, during the final quarter of the 16th century. Over the years, the building suffered numerous alterations, the ground-floor being separated and transformed into a chain of stores. The first house also preserves the only details that have interest for the visitors. In the passage to the yard there is also a stone sculpted door framework. In the centre of cornice there is a name plate shaped like a wide shield with rounded peak inserted with the cipher C. W. (Cirves-Servatius Weidner Jr.) and the year 1582. In the reception hall upstairs fresco fragments were discovered in 1902 (unfortunately, subsequently covered with the painting), which contained scenes of the Trojan War. It seems that the murals belonged to the end of the 16th century and middle of the following century. In the patio there can still be seen the carriage rails from the time when this used to be a storehouse for metal and chemical products. They used to be transported with the carriage from the unloading area at the gateway to the storage area – the last building of the yard.