The Soldisch Bastion

The Soldisch Bastion, also named the Mercenaries Bastion, is located in the North-West corner of the citadel, on Bastionului Street, built during 1622-1627.

Although it has a small area, Soldisch Bastion is one of the most interesting fortifications of the compound that used to provide security to the Upper Town. It is the last of the series of five Italian style bastions, built in order to modernize the defensive system. The bastion was made of brick and filled with soil for the purpose of providing a good protection against gunfire. Its walls are 2 meters thick and have a height of maximum 10 meters.

On the inside, the ground organization and two levels of defense are still preserved and on the Southern side there are embrasures for medium size weapons as well as a door that used to allow the passage of troupes to the outside.

The blazon of Sibiu is inserted in the bastion wall on the South-Easter side.

At the end of the 18th century, the Alderman of the Saxons, Michael von Brukenthal, set up a fashionable garden at the time, with a fountain and orangery, with an artificial ruin and a hill made of pieces of cliff. With the occasion of the military festivities, on the platform of the bastion, cannons were brought to pour in a broadside.