Is Dracula all you know about Transylvania?

You may want to take a closer look. I recently visited the fortress of Sighişoara, the so-called “birth place” of Dracula. Besides the fact that Dracula is nothing but a myth invented by Bram Stoker, actually Sighişoara is a German fortress with evidence of existence ever since 1191.

During the 12th century, German craftsmen and merchants known as the Transylvanian Saxons were sent to Transylvania to settle and defend the frontier across the Carpathians. By 1337 Sighişoara became a royal center for kings.

The city played an important strategic and commercial role at the edges of Central Europe for several centuries. The German artisans and craftsmen dominated the urban economy, as well as building the fortifications protecting it. It is estimated that during the 16th and the 17th centuries Sighişoara had as many as 15 guilds and 20 handicraft branches.

Sighişoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city, and it has been listed by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. In Eastern Europe, Sighişoara is one of the few fortified towns which are still inhabited.

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