Historic Centre of Sighișoara

Historic site in Sighișoara, Romania

46°13′4″N 24°47′32″E / 46.21778°N 24.79222°E / 46.21778; 24.79222Built12th CenturyArchitectural style(s)Gothic

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Official nameHistoric Centre of SighișoaraTypeCulturalCriteriaiii, vDesignated1999 (23rd session)Reference no.902CountryRomaniaRegionEurope and North AmericaLinkhttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/902

Listed Building – Grade I

Official nameSighisoara Citadel

Location of the Sighișoara Citadel in Mureș County

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Location of the Sighișoara Citadel in Romania

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The Historic Centre of Sighișoara (Sighișoara Citadel) is the old historic center of the town of Sighișoara (German: Schäßburg, Hungarian: Segesvár), Romania, built in the 12th century by Saxon settlers. It is an inhabited medieval citadel that, in 1999, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its 850-year-old testament to the history and culture of the Transylvanian Saxons.

Birthplace of Vlad III the Impaler (in Romanian Vlad Țepeș), Sighișoara hosts, every year, a medieval festival where arts and crafts blend with rock music and stage plays. The city marks the upper boundary of the Land of Sachsen. Like its bigger brothers, Sibiu (Hermannstadt) and Braşov (Kronstadt), Sighișoara exhibits Medieval German architectural and cultural heritage that was preserved even during the Communist period.