Brasov
Braşov is a medieval town with ornate Saxon churches and townhouses. Legend has it that when the Pied Piper of Hamelin enticed the children away from the town and underground they emerged in Transylvania near Braşov’s main square, Piaţa Sfatului, situated in the heart of the medieval quarter.
It is one of the finest Baroque squares in Romania. Here you can visit the 15th century Town Hall, with its quaint Trumpeter’s Tower on top, and the Lutheran Black Church. The church took almost a century to build (1383 – 1477) and is so-called for its soot-blackened walls – the result of a great fire started by the Austrian army that swept through Braşov in 1689. The Black Church is the largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul, and its 7 tone bell is the largest in Romania. Inside there are fine hanging Turkish carpets and a huge organ with 4000 pipes built by Buchholz. The Orthodox St Nicholas’s Cathedral is easily recognized by its black spires, within the same courtyard you can visit the adjacent Romanian School Museum, which displays some of the first textbooks written in the Romanian language and printed in Braşov (dating back to the 16th century).
