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Photo
Gallery: Romania
Sibiu
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photos are copyright protected. Please do not download any of these images. Contact the
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| The highlight of this
windmill exhibit at the Museum of Popular Technology is this one, above, with its
unusual cloth blades. In the background to the left, behind the horses, is a more
traditional wooden windmill. Research is being done to determine what type of windmill
blade is most efficient. This outdoor museum, like the Village Museum in Bucuresti, is a
collection of buildings and structures from many areas of Romania. The museum documents
day-to-day rural life, including folk technology, from wind- and watermills to traditional
trades (such as pottery, woodworking, milling, winemaking) as well as houses and a wooden
church. When we visited, a number of the guides told us that the museum was in imminent
danger of closing because of a lack of government funding. (June 1999) |
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| The weather was rainy
and overcast during our entire visit to Sibiu, so we hope you will take this into account
as you view the photographs. |
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| This is the
candlemaker's homestead at the Technology Museum, below. His workshop is on the
left and his home on the right. At the back of the enclosed courtyard is the barn and
toolshed. Many of the exhibits were staffed by knowledgeable guides, who, when they
realized that we were truly interested, explained the historic working traditions most
enthusiastically and in great detail. Staff members -- guides, caretakers -- are permitted
to plant vegetable gardens next to the various houses and homesteads as a sort of
supplement to their salaries. The gardens also add to the authenticity of the exhibits, as
even today every rural home has a good-sized vegetable garden. The Technology Museum is
actually located just outside of Sibiu in a beautifully forested area. (June 1999) |
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| The courtyard of the
Brukenthal History Museum, below, housed in the old city hall. Built in 1475, the
style is in keeping with Sibiu's Saxon tradition. The museum now offers one of the finest
collections of Romanian and German (Saxon) military and cultural exhibits dating from the
15th century. Since the rooms are not all connected, visitors are obliged to walk through
the courtyard -- either at ground level or along the balcony -- to get from one exhibit to
the next. Guides point the way. |
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| Nearby is the Brukenthal
Art Museum in a Baroque-style former palace, where you will find an extensive collection
of art, silver, wood, and icons, as well as changing exhibits of contemporary arts or
crafts. Samuel Brukenthal, who collected many of the exhibited pieces, was an Imperial
Governour of Ardeal (Transylvania). (June 1999) |
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| Piata Mare
(pee-AH-tseh MAH-ray) is the largest of the three main squares that comprise the centre of
the old city. This striking Councillors' Tower dominates the square, below, which
is surrounded by shops, restaurants, city buildings, and the Brukenthal Art Museum. Many
of the buildings in Sibiu are painted in various bright colours, like the blues you see
here. Nearby are the remnants of the Saxon ramparts and bastions, which at one time ringed
the entire city. These fortifications protected the industrious, and generally wealthy,
inhabitants from invasion by Turks as well as from having to mix too much with the local
Romanians! Unfortunately our photographs of the remaining fortifications and towers did
not turn out very well. (June 1999) |
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| This is the old
synagogue, below, where the handful of Jews who remain in Sibiu hold weekly and
holiday services. We could not find anyone to let us inside on the day we visited. (June
1999) |
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Next: Bucovina -- The painted churches
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This page last updated 27 July 2004
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