Sighișoara Clock Tower

The Clock Tower (Romanian: Turnul cu Ceas, German: Der Stundturm) of Sighișoara in Mures County, Transylvania, Romania, is the main entry point to the town citadel, opposite the Tailors' Tower. With its 64 meters of height, the tower is visible from almost every corner of the city. Its purpose was to defend the main gate of the citadel. It also served as the town hall until 1656. It is now considered one of the most important clock towers in the whole of Transylvania. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List No 902: Historic Centre of Sighişoara.
Construction of the tower began at the end of the 13th century and was completed in the 14th century as a simple gate tower with a maximum of two upper levels. The ground floor and first two floors of the tower were made of sandstone and river rock. The first stage of the tower construction probably had a form identical to the Tailors' Tower opposite. The thickness of the base walls was 2.35 meters, and 1.30 meters on the second floor. Stone tiles of basalt were used only at the corners. In the 16th century the old roof was demolished; two floors built of brick were added, as were a balcony and a new roof, although it is not known for sure how the roof was before the 1676 fire. The present Baroque roof with five turrets and onion bulbs represents an exceptional achievement of the three travelling master craftsmen: Veit Gruber from Tyrol, Philip Bong of Salzburg and the carpenter Valentinus "the foreigner" ("der Auslander"), who rebuilt the tower after the great fire of 1676 from March to September 1677 for 650 florins. What makes this tower unique in all the country is its clock with carved figures inside.
It is a historical symbol of Sighișoara, and, unlike all the other towers that were owned and defended by different guilds, the Clock Tower was a public asset. It used to house the public administration offices, and, during holidays, the city orchestra. Since the end of the 19th century it has accommodated the History Museum of Sighișoara. Another important feature of this tower is the balcony which is the most important observation point of the city: the wide view made it possible to sight eventual fires in time to reach promptly one of the nine places in all Sighișoara that could provide water. It was vital to prevent the spread of flames because at that time the city did not dispose of much water; it was necessary in fact to dig for 35m to find a water source.
The tower was modernized in 1964 with an electric motor, without diminishing the archaic effect of the clock. Since 1898, the tower has served as a museum in Sighișoara, a title that gives to it the status of symbol of the citadel and the main attraction for visitors.
The tower is a rectangular prism with massive walls, with a rectangular base measuring 12 meters by 8.66 meters, with four floors and an observation gallery. The current distance between the base of the tower and the base of the roof is 30 meters, and the height of the roof from the base to the top is 34 meters, so the roof is taller than the tower. The base of the tower is crossed by two vaulted semi-cylindrical parallel passages dating from the 13th century, provided in the past with solid oak doors and metal gratings, whose traces can still be partially seen today. The tower carries many signs of local authority: the four turrets placed on the corners of the roof, 12.5 meters high, are symbols of the autonomy of the State, which can pronounce and execute sentences of capital punishment. Also the clock and some of the figures on the inside can be considered symbols of public authority, as can the 1-meter diameter golden sphere on the summit of the roof. The tower contains two clock mechanisms, one in wood and one in metal, corresponding to the age of the crafts. Two faces (one looking towards the citadel, the second looking towards the lower city) each hold a clock dial of 2.3 meters diameter, with black and gold hand-painted clock numbers. Two niches with symbolic carved figures on the inside are located on the left of the dials. In the niche facing the citadel are arranged, on three levels, the following figures:
The niche located in the face looking towards the lower city has only two sections or levels:
At first sight the seven figures appear to represent only seven days of the week, but in reality they also depict the seven ancient gods, seven planets and seven basic metals.
46°13′09″N 24°47′36″E﻿ / ﻿46.2193°N 24.7933°E﻿ / 46.2193; 24.7933