Editing Sighișoara (section)

== History ==

{{See also|Voivodeship of Transylvania}}
{{more citations needed section|date=September 2013}}
[[File:Rumänien. Landschaft, Bauten, Volksleben Sighișoara, piață.jpg|thumb|left|Central Sighișoara as photographed by Kurt Hielscher in 1933.]]
[[File:Strada Turnului, Cetatea Sighisoara.JPG|left|thumb|180px|A street in central Sighișoara, very close to the Clock Tower.]]
[[File:Segesvár.jpg|left|thumb|180px|The town centre of Sighișoara, as seen from the Clock Tower during the summer.]]
[[File:Sighisoara IMG 5624.jpg|left|thumb|180px|The town centre of Sighișoara, as seen from the Clock Tower in winter time.]]
[[File:sighisoara2.JPG|thumb|left|180px|View from Villa Franka]]

Starting with the mid 12th century, [[Germans|German]] [[Artisan|craftsmen]] and [[merchants]] known as the [[Transylvanian Saxons]] ({{langx|de|Siebenbürger Sachsen}}) were invited to Transylvania by the then [[Kingdom of Hungary|King of Hungary]], [[Géza II of Hungary|Géza II]], to settle and defend the frontier of his realm and improve the region's economy. The [[chronicle]]r Krauss lists a Saxon settlement in present-day Sighișoara by 1191.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} A document of 1280 records a town built on the site of a Roman fort as ''Castrum Sex'' or "six-sided camp", referring to the fort's shape of an irregular hexagon.<ref name="room">Adrian Room, ''Placenames of the World'', p.347. McFarland, 2006, {{ISBN|0-7864-2248-3}}.</ref> Other names recorded include ''Schaäsburg'' (1282), ''Schespurg'' (1298) and ''Segusvar'' (1300).<ref name="talanga">Cristian Tălângă (ed.), ''Transilvania, Maramureș, Bucovina'', p.27. Editura Semne, Bucharest, 2007.</ref> By 1337 Sighișoara had become a royal center for the kings, who awarded the settlement urban status in 1367 as the ''Civitas de Segusvar''.

The town played an important strategic and commercial role at the edges of [[Central Europe]] for several centuries. Sighișoara became one of the most important urban centres of Transylvania, with artisans from throughout the [[Holy Roman Empire]] visiting the settlement. 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 17th centuries Sighișoara had as many as 15 [[guild]]s and 20 [[handicraft]] branches. The [[Baroque]] sculptor Elias Nicolai lived in the town. The [[Wallachia]]n ''[[voivode]]'' [[Vlad Dracul]] (father of [[Vlad the Impaler]]), who lived in exile in the town, had coins minted in the town (otherwise coinage was the monopoly of the [[Hungarian kings]] in the [[Kingdom of Hungary]]) and issued the first document listing the city's [[Romanian language|Romanian]] name, ''Sighișoara''.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} The Romanian name is first attested in 1435, and derives from the Hungarian ''Segesvár'', where ''vár'' is "fort".<ref name="room"/><ref name="talanga"/>

[[File:Old picture of Piata Hermann Oberth .jpg|right|thumb|252x252px|Hermann Oberth Square during the 20th century]]

The town was the setting for [[George I Rákóczi]]'s election as [[List of Transylvanian rulers|Prince of Transylvania]] and [[King of Hungary]] in 1631. Sighișoara suffered military occupation, fires, and plagues during the 17th and 18th centuries. An important source for the history of 17th-century Transylvania, for the period of 1606–1666, are the records of Georg Kraus, the town's notary.<ref>[http://bookline.hu/product/home!execute.action?id=77551&type=22&_v=Kraus_Georg_Erdelyi_kronika_1608_1666 Erdélyi krónika 1608-1666] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026151819/https://bookline.hu/product/home!execute.action?id=77551&type=22&_v=Kraus_Georg_Erdelyi_kronika_1608_1666 |date=26 October 2022 }} (in Hungarian)</ref>

The nearby plain of [[Albești, Mureș|Albești]] was the site of the [[Battle of Segesvár]], where the [[Revolution of 1848|revolutionary]] Hungarian army led by [[Józef Bem]] was defeated by the [[Russian Empire|Russian]] army led by [[Alexander von Lüders|Lüders]] on 31 July 1849. A monument was constructed in 1852 to the Russian general Skariatin, who died in the battle. The Hungarian poet [[Sándor Petőfi]] is generally believed to have been killed in the battle, and a monument was constructed in his honor at Albești in 1897. After [[World War I]] Sighișoara passed with Transylvania from [[Austria-Hungary]] to the [[Kingdom of Romania]].

[[Historic Centre of Sighișoara|Central Sighișoara]] has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small [[Middle Ages|medieval]] fortified town. It has been listed by [[UNESCO]] as a [[World Heritage Site]]. Each year, a [[Sighișoara Medieval Festival|medieval Festival]] takes place in the old citadel in July.

In Eastern Europe and Southeastern Europe, Sighișoara is one of the few fortified towns that are still inhabited. The town is made up of two parts. The medieval stronghold was built on top of a hill and is known as the Citadel ({{lang|ro|Cetatea}}). The lower town lies in the valley of Târnava Mare river.

The houses inside Sighișoara Citadel show the main features of a craftsmen's town. However, there are some houses that belonged to the former patriciate, like the Venetian House and the House with Antlers.

Between 2001 and 2003, the construction of a [[Dracula]] theme park in the ''[[Breite Oak Tree Reserve|Braite]]'' nature preserve near Sighișoara was considered but ultimately rejected, owing to the strong opposition of local civil society groups and national and international media as well as politically influential persons, as the theme park would have detracted from the medieval style of the city and would have destroyed the nature preserve.