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Sibiu Capital of Culture ,
First official record referring to the Sibiu area comes from 1191. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the city became the second- and later the first-most important centre of Transylvanian Romanian ethnics.
After World War I, when Austria-Hungary was dissolved, Sibiu became part of Romania; the majority of its population was still ethnic German (until 1941) and counted a large Romanian community, as well as a smaller Hungarian one. Starting from the 1950s and until after 1990, most of the city's ethnic Germans emigrated to Germany and Austria. Among the roughly 2,000 who have remained is Klaus Johannis, the current President of Romania.
Sibiu is one of Romania's most culturally lively cities. It has 3 theatres and a philharmonic orchestra along with other smaller private theatrical venues and a theatre studio housed by the Performing Arts and Acting section of Lucian Blaga University, where students hold monthly representations.
The Radu Stanca National Theatre is one of the leading Romanian theatres. With origins dating back to 1787, it attracts some of the best-known Romanian directors, such as Gábor Tompa and Silviu Purcărete. It has both a Romanian-language and a German-language section, and presents an average of five shows a week.
The Gong Theatre is specialised in puppetry, mime and non-conventional shows for children and teenagers. It also presents shows in both Romanian and German.
The State Philharmonic of Sibiu presents weekly classical music concerts, and educational concerts for children and teenagers. The concerts take place in the newly restored Thalia Hall, a concert and theatre hall dating from 1787, situated along the old city fortifications. Weekly organ concerts are organised at the Evangelical Cathedral during summers, and thematic concerts are presented by the Faculty of Theology choir at the Orthodox Cathedral.
The Sibiu International Theatre Festival is an annual festival of performing arts. Since 2016, it is the largest performance arts festival in the world.
Sibiu's museums are organised around two entities: the Brukenthal National Museum and the ASTRA National Museum Complex. The Brukenthal Museum consists of an Art Gallery and an Old Books Library located inside the Brukenthal Palace, a History Museum located in the old town hall building, a Pharmacy Museum located in one of the first apothecary shops in Europe, dating from the 16th century, a Natural History Museum and a Museum of Arms and Hunting Trophies.
Several festivals are organised yearly in Sibiu, the most prestigious of them being the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, organized each spring at the end of May. Medieval Festival organized every year in August, reviving the medieval spirit of Transylvania. The Artmania Festival is held every Summer since 2006 and as of 2008 the Rockin' Transilvania Festival is also held in Sibiu. The oldest Jazz Festival in Romania is organized here, as well as the "Carl Filtsch" festival for young classical piano players, the "Astra Film" documentary film festival, the Transylvania calling Festival a Multi Cultural 6 day Open Air Music festival! 26–31 July 2007, a medieval arts festival and many more smaller cultural events.
Feeric Fashion Week is also hosted here.
The designation as a European Cultural
Medias :
Mediaș is located in the middle basin of Târnava Mare River, at 39 km from Sighișoara and 41 km from Blaj. The health resort Bazna, officially recognized for the first time in 1302, is 18 km from Mediaș. The health resort offers mineral water springs, rich in salts, mineral mud and a special type of salt, called "Bazna salt". The distance between Mediaș and the county's residence Sibiu is 55 km.
The first signs of human communities in the area are thought to be from the middle Neolithic period.
In the 13th century, the kings of Hungary invited German settlers known as Transylvanian Saxons to the area, who settled in the valley of the Târnava Mare River.
Mediaş is the second industrial center after Sibiu in the county. From the 14th to 19th centuries, various manufacturers and professionals were members of associations based on their trades called bresle (guilds), the first two unions were the ones formed by tailors and cloth makers, in 1457. In 1698, Mediaş already had 33 unions.

St. Margaret's Church: The fortified church was built in gothic style in 1488, with time it went through different modifications. The feeble ground structure made its tower, built in 1460, incline. 1550 the church was raised with three storeys and in 1551 four smaller towers were added to show that the city had a court. It was at that time that it gained its 68.5 meters height. In 1783 the roof-structure was changed and the small towers renovated, it was also then that the golden globe, dating from 1550, was brought down from the tower and according to tradition its content was read aloud. The tower proved to be a good spotting post. In those times the trumpeter in the tower had a great function, alerting about the approaching danger. If he made a mistake, he would've been thrown out from the top of the tower. From this does the towers name derive, Trumpeters tower. In this tower was ordered to be locked Vlad Ţepeş, a.k.a. Dracula, by King Matyas in 1476. On the inside walls of the church you can see 14th- or 15th-century frescoes. The altar was made in 1480 in gothic style, and portrays the sufferings of Jesus. On the portrait, below the crucified Jesus' arm, a Wien panorama can be observed, this indicates the portray origin. The church walls are also decorated with eastern wall carpets given to the church by Christians, some date back to the 16th century. In the church there is the oldest brazen baptistry of the country made at the beginning of the 19th century.The canopy of the pulpit was made in 1679 by master Sigismund Moess. Its pipe-organ, from 1755, is appropriate for symphony concerts. While these concerts last the church benches are turned to face the pipe-organ.
Sighisoara home of Dracula :
During the 12th century, German craftsmen and merchants known as the Transylvanian Saxons were invited to Transylvania by the King of Hungary to settle and defend the frontier of his realm. The chronicler Krauss lists a Saxon settlement in present-day Sighișoara by 1191. 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. Other names recorded include Schaäsburg (1282), Schespurg (1298) and Segusvar (1300). By 1337 Sighișoara had become a royal center for the kings, who awarded the settlement urban status in 1367 as the Civitas de Segusvar.
Central Sighișoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city. It has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Each year, a Medieval Festival takes place in the old citadel in July.

Sighișoara Clock Tower (Turnul cu Ceas) - the landmark of the city is a 64 m-high tower built in the 13th century.[5] Today it is a museum of history.
The Tinsmiths' Tower (Turnul Cositorarilor)
The Butchers' Tower (Turnul Măcelarilor)
The Bootmakers' Tower
The Tailors' Tower (Turnul Croitorilor)
The Furriers' Tower (Turnul Cojocarilor)
The Ironsmiths' Tower (Turnul Fierarilor)
The Ropemakers' Tower (Turnul Frânghierilor)
The Tanners' Tower (Turnul Tăbăcarilor)
The Face Tower - tower on the route to Târgu Mureș, out of the citadel, but still worth visiting thanks to its story.
Churches:
The church on the hill (Biserica din Deal) - is undoubtedly one of the most valuable architectural monuments of the city and has been one of the most representative buildings of the gothic site of Romania.
The Monastery Church (Biserica Mânăstirii Dominicane) - is a gothic style architectural monument which is placed in the neighbourhood of the Clock tower and it was built at the beginning of the 13th century. It is the only church without a bell: the reason is basically that tha Saxons weren't great spenders and thought that one bell, the one of the Church on the hill, was enough for the whole city.
The Saint Joseph Roman Catholic church
Leprosy Church (Biserica Leproșilor)
The Orthodox Cathedral of Sighişoara (Catedrala Ortodoxă)
Brasov :
The city was described in 1235 AD under the name Corona, a Latin word meaning "crown", a name given by the German colonists.
The first attested mention of Brașov is Terra Saxonum de Barasu ("Saxon Land of Baras") in a 1252 document. The German name Kronstadt means "Crown City" and is reflected in the city's coat of arms as well as in its Medieval Latin name, Corona.
With its central location, Brașov is a suitable location from which to explore Romania, and the distances to several tourist destinations (including the Black Sea resorts, the monasteries in northern Moldavia, and the wooden churches of Maramureș) are similar. It is also the largest city in a mountain resorts area. The old city is very well preserved and is best seen by taking the cable-car to the top of Tâmpa Mountain.
Brașov benefits from a winter tourism season centered on winter sports and other activities. Poiana Brașov is the most popular Romanian ski resort and an important tourist center preferred by many tourists from other European states.
Sights:
Biserica Neagră ("The Black Church"), a celebrated Gothic site - the building dates from 1477, when it replaced an older church (demolished around 1385). Its acquired the name after being blackened by smoke from the 1689 great fire.
Casa Sfatului ("The mayor's former office building"). The administration for Brașov was here for more than 500 years.
Biserica Sf. Nicolae (St. Nicholas Church), dating back to the 14th century.
The First Romanian School, a museum with the first Romanian printing press among many other firsts.
The Rope Street, the narrowest street in Romania.
Șchei, the historically Bulgarian but then Romanian neighborhood outside of the old walled city.
Catherine's Gate, the only original city gate to have survived from medieval times.
Şchei Gate, next to Catherine's Gate, built in 1827.
Râșnov Fortress, above the nearby town of Râșnov, is a restored peasant fortress
Prejmer Fortress, in the nearby commune of Prejmer.
Bran Castle :
In 1212, Teutonic Knights built the wooden castle of Dietrichstein as a fortified position in the Burzenland at the entrance to a mountain pass through which traders had travelled for more than a millennium, but in 1242 it was destroyed by the Mongols.
In 2005, the Romanian government passed a special law allowing restitution claims on properties illegally expropriated, such as Bran, and thus a year later the castle was awarded ownership to American Dominic von Habsburg, the son and heir of Princess Ileana.
In September 2007, an investigation committee of the Romanian Parliament stated that the retrocession of the castle to Archduke Dominic was illegal, as it broke the Romanian law on property and succession. However, in October 2007 the Constitutional Court of Romania rejected the parliament's petition on the matter. In addition, an investigation commission of the Romanian government issued a decision in December 2007 reaffirming the validity and legality of the restitution procedures used and confirming that the restitution was made in full compliance with the law.
On 18 May 2009, the Bran Castle administration was transferred from the government to the administration of Archduke Dominic and his sisters Maria-Magdalena Holzhausen and Elisabeth Sandhofer. On 1 June 2009, the Habsburgs opened the refurbished castle to the public as the first private museum of the country and disclosed with Bran Village a joint strategic concept to maintain their domination in the Romanian tourist circuit and to safeguard the economic base in the region.
Peles Castle :
When the King Carol I of Romania (1839–1914), under whose reign the country gained its independence, first visited the site of the future castle in 1866, he fell in love with the magnificent mountain scenery. In 1872, the Crown purchased 1,300 square kilometres (500 sq mi) of land near the Piatra Arsă River.
By form and function, Peleş is a palace, but it is consistently called a castle. Its architectural style is a romantically inspired blend Neo-Renaissance and Gothic Revival similar to Schloss Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. A Saxon influence can be observed in the interior courtyard facades, which have allegorical hand-painted murals and ornate fachwerk similar to that seen in northern European alpine architecture. Interior decoration is mostly Baroque influenced, with heavy carved woods and exquisite fabrics.
The collection of arms and armor has over 4,000 pieces.

Peleş Castle has a 3,200-square-metre (34,000 sq ft) floor plan with over 170 rooms, many with dedicated themes from world cultures (in a similar fashion as other Romanian palaces, like Cotroceni Palace). Themes vary by function (offices, libraries, armories, art galleries) or by style (Florentine, Turkish, Moorish, French, Imperial); all the rooms are extremely lavishly furnished and decorated to the slightest detail. There are 30 bathrooms. The establishment hosts one of the finest collections of art in Eastern and Central Europe, consisting of statues, paintings, furniture, arms and armor, gold, silver, stained glass, ivory, fine china, tapestries, and rugs. The collection of arms and armor has over 4,000 pieces, divided between Eastern and Western war pieces and ceremonial or hunting pieces, spreading over four centuries of history. Oriental rugs come from many sources: Bukhara, Mosul, Isparta, Saruk, and Smirna. The porcelain is from Sèvres and Meissen; the leather is from Córdoba. Perhaps the most acclaimed items are the hand-painted stained glass vitralios, which are mostly Swiss.
A towering statue of King Carol I by Raffaello Romanelli overlooks the main entrance. Many other statues are present on the seven Italian neo-Renaissance terrace gardens, mostly of Carrara marble executed by the Italian sculptor Romanelli. The gardens also host fountains, urns, stairways, guarding lions, marble paths, and other decorative pieces.
Peleș Castle shelters a painting collection of almost 2,000 pieces. Angelo de Gubernatis (1840–1913) was an Italian writer who arrived in 1898 in Sinaia as a guest of the Royal Family.