The Council Tower

The Sfatului Tower or Council Tower is located between the Big Square of Sibiu and
the Small Square of Sibiu both located Downtown.It is the emblem of the city ,
perhaps the most famous monument.The tower was built in the thirteenth century
and was first mentioned in a written document in 1370.
Its name is linked to the building next door, which was the first municipal
council of the city.The tower was , at that time , the entrance gate of the city , serving
defense, and integrated in the second city wall.The tower was built in the sixteenth
century.The last level was added in 1829 and the roof you see now dates from the
nineteenth century.Through the centuries , the tower was used as a place to store
bags of grain or even as a prison. You can climb a staircase to engjoy the beautiful
view of the medieval city center.
The council Tower is a seven levels building , the frontends can be identified
easily by the wall fortification with narrow openings.The building is supported by tall
butresses wich withdraw in steps on the sides from the Big Square to the Small
Square. In the south side butresses are carved two lions whereof are supposed to be
from the renaissance ( last third of the XVI century)
On the ground floor there is a big arched passageway which connects the Big
Square with the Small Square.Also a second passageway was built in 1930 , on the
right side , by demolition of a neighboring building located in the Small Square.The
acces inside the tower is made trough a small door located on the Small Square side
of the tower.From here you can climb a very narrow spiral staircase to get to the
upper floors.At the sixth floor you cand find the clock mechanism that has four
quadrants on each side of the tower and the top floor was designed so people can
admire the beautiful view of the old part of the city.
After 17th of February 1585, when the top floors have crashed, extensive
reconstruction works were carried out. After it was repaired several times in the
XVIIIth century, the tower has supported radical interventions in the upper part.
The towers roof , pyramidal shaped has four small towers located at the
corners was repaired several times in the XVIII century first in 1719 then in 1750 ,
when they decided to replace the roof with a cheaper smaller one . This one was
replaced after in 1824-1826 when they added the last level and replaced the roof
again.