Park

Ideea înfiinţării unui parc între Bastionul Soldisch şi actualul Hotel Continental Forum datează din anul 1969, dar este pusă în practică zece ani mai târziu, odată cu înfiinţarea Societăţii de Înfrumuseţare a Oraşului, a cărei primă realizare importantă este Parcul Astra. Situat în inima oraşului şi delimitat de străzile Mitropoliei, George Bariţiu, Ioan Lupaş şi Piaţa Unirii, parcul a fost reamenajat în anul 1926, când a primit fizionomia de azi, cu arbori şi arbuşti ornamentali. Parcul găzduieşte 9 busturi ale celor mai importante personalităţi româneşti grupate în jurul Asociaţiei ASTRA: George Bariţiu, Badea Cârţan, Timotei Cipariu, Octavian Goga, Gheorghe Lazăr, Andrei Mureşanu, Andrei Şaguna, Ioan Slavici şi Emanuil Gojdu. În imediata vecinătate a parcului se află clădiri impunătoare, dintre care trebuie menţionat Palatul Asociaţiunii, inaugurat în anul 1905. Acesta adăpostea o sală de conferinţe, biblioteca, prima sală de teatru românesc şi Muzeul de etnografie şi pictură românească. În prezent, clădirea găzduieşte Biblioteca Astra, cea mai importantă bibliotecă a oraşului. Intrarea în clădire se face pe poarta străjuită de doi atlanţi. Fosta sală de teatru este actuala sală de lectură şi impresionează prin atmosfera victoriană şi decoraţiile interioare bogate. În partea stângă a parcului se afla Policlinica de copii, iar lângă Palatul Asociaţiunii este fosta Şcoală normală de fete, astăzi Şcoala ajutătoare de hipoacuzici. Latura de est a parcului include o serie de clădiri din secolul al XIX-lea. Clădirile de la nr. 1 şi 3 datează de la începutul secolului XX şi sunt realizate în stil Art Deco. 

In the southeastern part of the city, along the defensive wall of the old city, close to the Thalia Hall (Sala Thalia), visitors can enjoy a walk in the first park of Sibiu – The Citadel Park (Parcul Cetății). Here they will find the best preserved section of the fortifications network of the old medieval fortress, since it was reinforced several times over the years, which made the three towers dating from XV-th century to keep in good condition until today: The Gunsmiths Tower (Turnul Archebuzierilor), The Carpenters Tower (Turnul Dulgherilor) and The Potters Tower (Turnul Olarilor). Known in history as the Promenade of the Crippled (Promenada Invalizilor), the name being awarded in memory of veterans wounded in various wars of the Habsburg Empire, the park was arranged for the first time in 1791 instead ditches and lakes in the southern wall of the fortress. The aesthetic design project was coordinated by colonel Johann von Vecsey, leader of the guard regiment “Baron Spleniy No. 31”. In his honor a commemorative plaque was placed in 1829. The statue of Emperor Francisc 1st was made by sculptor Procopius, from the Academy in Vienna, on a project belonging to Franz Neuhauser the Younger. It is the oldest statue of Sibiu. The statue has been removed by the communist regime and then relocated back, in 2007 when the entire complex was restored. The passage and the stairs next to the theater were built in the same period, as well as the second passage, from The Potters Tower, named “The Bedeus Stairs” (“Scara Bedeus”) in memory of Joseph Bedeus von Scharberg, one of the most important architects in Sibiu’s history, A new breakthrough passage was made between the two World Wars, the one starting from “Barracs 90” (Cazarma 90). The last one, which leads to the yard of Thalia Hall (Sala Thalia) appeared during the restoration of the Gros Tower (Turnul Gros), in 2003. Another tourist attraction in the Citadel Park (Parcul Cetății) is the Walk of Fame (Aleea Celebrităților), inaugurated in 2013 during the XX-th Edition of the FITS Anniversary Gala. It is a landmark for all tourists who want to know the names of people who have made an important contribution to the cultural and artistic life of the city. The Walk of Fame project in Sibiu, inspired by the Hollywood model, was initiated by the National Theatre "Radu Stanca" and the Municipality of Sibiu. The alley wears stars named after the most important cultural personalities of Sibiu: Eugenio Barba – director Sasha Waltz – coreographer Declan Donnellan – director George Banu – playwright Nakamura Kanzaburo XVII – Kabuki actor Silviu Purcărete - director Martin Hochmeister – founder of the first public library and the first theater magazine, Radu Stanca - actor, director, poet, essayist and cultural animator, leader of Sibiu Literary Circle, Peter Brook - director Lev Dodin - leader of Saint Petersburg Maly Drama Theater, Peter Stein - director, Krystian Lupa - director, Gigi Căciuleanu - dancer, coreographer, professor, Klaus Maria Brandauer - actor and film director, Eimuntas Nekrosius - director, Joel Pommerat – playwright and director, Neil LaBute - director, screenwriter and playwright, Kazuyoshi Kushida - playwright, director and actor, Victor rebengiuc - Romanian actor of film, radio, theater, television, Evgeny Mironov - Russian actor, Alvis Hermanis - actor, playwright, artistic director, Luk Perceval - director Christoph Marthaler - director, musician, representative of the avant-garde theater style, Thomas Ostermeier - theater director, Tim Robbins - actor, screenwriter, producer.

Parcul Natural Dumbrava Sibiului este unul dintre cele mai importante obiective turistice din Sibiu şi împrejurimile acestuia. Loc preferat de promenadă încă din secolul al XVIII-lea, Parcul Natural Dumbrava Sibiului se află la 4 km de centrul oraşului Sibiu, de-a lungul şoselei care merge spre Răşinari, şi se întinde pe o suprafaţă de peste 960 ha. Parcul este traversat de pârâul Trinkbach, care formează pe cursul său trei lacuri de origine antropică: unul la Muzeul Tehnicii Populare şi două în Grădina Zoologică. Doritorii pot opta aici pentru plimbări de agrement cu barca şi hidrobicicleta. Vegetaţia parcului este abundentă, fiind reprezentată de: stejar, carpen, cireş pădureţ, ulm, jugastru şi tei, arbori precum gorunul, frasinul, arţarul şi scoruşul fiind mai rari. Dintre arbuşti cresc aici: lemnul câinelui, păducelul, porumbarul, sângerul, măceşul, salba moale, cruşinul, călinul, verigariul. Mai mult de jumătate din arboretele de aici depăşeşte 100 de ani, iar câteva zeci de exemplare de stejar depăşesc 200 de ani. În zona lacului cu bărci există un exemplar de stejar vechi de peste 400 de ani. În stratul ierbos al pădurii cresc peste 100 de specii de plante cu flori, incluzând: opaiţa, brânduşa, lăcrămiţa, iarba albastră, salata iepurelui. În Pădurea Dumbrava trăiesc căprioare, veveriţe, arici, mistreţi, şoareci, pârşi, vulpi, unele păsări: piţigoiul mare, mierla, presura, ciocănitoarea mare, gaiţa, turtureaua, bufniţa, pupăza, cucul, cinteza, sticletele, vrăbiile, corbul, precum şi un număr foarte mare de specii de insecte şi alte nevertebrate terestre. Parcul Natural Dumbrava este renumit astăzi pentru Muzeul Satului Astra, cuprins în arealul său. În partea de sud a Pădurii Dumbrava se găsesc Monumentul eroilor căzuţi în cele două războaie mondiale şi Cimitirul Municipal, deschis în anul 1907.

Sub Arini is one of the oldest parks in Romania. The municipality of that time established the park on a 22 ha area and built it between 1856 and 1865. Wolfgang Seifried was the engineer who developed and oversaw the works execution. Between 1857 and 1858, the two main alleys were built along the former ditch of the Swimming School and the Seviş stream. At the same time, various species of trees were planted, the most prominent being, of course, alders (arini). The dike was built in 1859, and a year later the bridge over the Trinbach brook. In 1865, the Sub Arini Restaurant was opened (today's Bolta Rece). Since 1881, the park has been under the care of the Society for the Beautification of the City, which planted more trees. The greenhouse was built in 1883, followed by the first artesian fountain in 1894. The music pavilion was built in 1898, and every Sunday the military band held performances there. Since 1904, the park was fitted with electric lighting. The municipal stadium, first known as the Physical Education Stadium, was opened in 1927 on the southern edge of the park. Between 1977-1981, the stadium was fitted with concrete stands for 12,000 spectators. In 1982, the capacity of the stadium was upgraded to 24,000 seats. In 1938, the bust of Mihai Eminescu, cast by the sculptor Radu Moga, was unveiled. In 1979, the municipality started to pave the main alleys, and replaced the old music pavilion with a new one. Also, the artesian fountain was refurbished. During the same time, the children playgrounds were built. Today, the park is home to 68 plant species (of which about 30 are exotic) and 95 sedentary or migratory bird species. The visitors could admire native species, such as alders, linden trees, chestnuts, sycamores and other trees (some of them over 150 years old), North American species, such as blue spruce, white pine, walnut, rock maple, tsuga, red cedar or Douglas fir, and trees from the Far East: Japanese barberry, ginkgo biloba and the Caucasian fir.

Dincolo de Bastionul Haller, în continuarea parcului care însoţeşte zidurile cetăţii, zona se lărgeşte, dând naştere unui alt parc al Sibiului - Parcul Tineretului. Aşezat la poalele cetăţii, fiind mărginit de vechile fortificaţii, dar şi de clădiri istorice, Parcul Tineretului este un loc de repaus îndrăgit de sibieni.

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.