Vampires and, er, topiary
Categories: places
Tags: photos, Sibiu, Romania, Sighisoara, topiary
Date: 19 July 2007 12:04:24
So, here are the Sighisoara views for your delight and delectation. Mostly they are of the Clock Tower. Sighisoara is an ancient fortified city, and has 9 surviving towers (of the original I think 13), all except the Clock Tower being named after particular trade guilds (the Tailors' Tower, the Ironmongers' Tower, etc etc) who were expected to defend their particular bit of the fortifications in the event of an attack (which appeared to happen rather a lot in the olden days, mainly those pesky Turks). The Clock Tower though is the most decorative and photographed, for rather obvious reasons, and it really adds to the whole gothic Dracula-esque atmosphere. First though is a picture of your actual Dracula's birthplace, which obviously, being the most famous bit of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, is now a tacky restaurant and bar:
Next up lots of pictures of the Clock Tower from various angles (plus one which is a view from the top of the Clock Tower, one of a random orange wall that I thought was pretty, and one of some rather nice wine we imbibed, oopsie):
This next one is the least shaky one I managed of the Clock Tower at night (after half a bottle of wine and with no tripod, this is actually more impressive than you'd think) - honestly, how could Dracula not have been born here?!
And finally back to Sibiu, and from the sublime to the frankly ridiculous. Sibiu has just entered into a "fraternal relationship" (which as I understand it is sort of like twinning, but not as full on) with the town of Lucon in France. In recognition of this fact, Lucon donated a very, er, interesting addition to Sibiu's culture - well, honestly, if you entered a fraternal relationship with the European Capital of Culture, I'm sure you'd donate a bizarre piece of topiary and plonk it in front of the Town Hall as well. Here it is - 2 bears, a heron and lots of water features, not looking out of place in the slightest:
