During our week in Romania, we based ourselves in Brasov as a central location to explore the Transylvania region.

Although we spent only one day exploring Brasov itself, it luckily turned out to be the nicest day weather-wise.

Our first stop was the White Tower.

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I’ll give you three guesses as to where it got its name, and the first two don’t count.

If you read the post on Sighișoara (and if you didn’t, I’ll wait while you read it here), you may remember that each defensive tower around the town was built and manned by a different craft guild.

It was the same in Brasov, and the White Tower was run by the tinsmiths and coppersmiths.

Originally built in the 15th century, the tower was destroyed by fire in 1689.

Rebuilt in 1723, it was further restored a few times but basically sat empty for over 200 years.

During the final restoration between 2003 and 2005, a museum was added and the tower became a tourist attraction.

We did pay the small fee to see the little museum and climb up the tower.

From the tower’s location on a hill, you get great views of the town square down below.

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You can hike up to the tower from the town, but we drove up.

Leaving the car there, we walked along a path to see the Black Tower.

At one time Brasov was a walled fortress, and the Black Tower was one of 4 towers built into the walls.

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Although the tower isn’t black now, it was back in 1559 after it was struck by lightning and that’s where the name came from.

Like the White Tower, this tower was rebuilt and renovated several times.

The glass roof, added in 1995, gives it a bit of an odd look.

The tower sometimes hosts exhibitions, but it was closed during our visit.

There are lovely views of the town from the Black Tower as well, from a slightly different perspective.

After walking back to the White Tower, we retrieved the car and left it parked in town for the rest of the day.

Our first stop after that was the Black Church.

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During the same fire that destroyed the White Tower in 1689, the walls of this church – originally named Saint Mary’s Church – were blackened.

Hence the name.

Are you noticing a theme here?

White Tower? Black Tower? Black Church?

Don’t worry, not everyplace in Brasov is black or white.

Back to the church.

Photos are not allowed inside, so I unfortunately can’t show you the magnificent pipe organ or the collection of beautiful, old carpets from Asia Minor or the sculptures or the murals.

You will just have to take my word for it that the church has a splendid interior that you should definitely see if you ever find yourself in Brasov.

Do you recognize this white building?

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It’s the White Tower that you saw earlier.

The tower looks circular in the earlier photo, but when you view it from town like this you can see that the shape is actually semi-circular.

Isn’t this a great town square?

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There’s an interesting little factoid about the square.

It’s supposedly the spot where the Pied Piper ended up with the children of Hamlin, a town that I wrote. (If you haven’t read that post, I’ll wait while you read it here.)

Today, luckily, the square is filled with historic buildings, restaurants, cafés, churches, banks – everything you’d want in a town square.

Our next stop was the Tâmpa Cable Car.

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It takes you up to the top of Tâmpa Mountain, where you get yet some more fantastic views over Brasov.

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Bonus points if you can pick out the White Tower and the Black Tower that you read about earlier.

A short walk on the mountain brings you behind the Brasov sign.

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These are giant letters spelling out BRASOV, sort of like the Romanian equivalent of the Hollywood sign.

Here’s what the sign looks like when you view it from the White Tower.

If you look to the left in the photo, you can see the cable car station at the top of the mountain as well as the wires where it looks like there’s a path through the trees.

After taking the cable car back down, we headed back into town but made a little detour first.

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Strada Sforii is the narrowest street in Brasov and one of the narrowest in Europe.

At its narrowest point, it’s only 44 inches wide – not even really wide enough for two adults to pass each other if one of them doesn’t turn sideways.

Because the weather was finally decent, we ate dinner outside on the main square.

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We even had a little feline company while we ate, which is always nice.

Brasov was a perfect location to base ourselves while exploring Transylvania region.

If you’ve visited or stayed in Brasov, leave a comment and let us know your impressions of the place.

 

About the author: Trish

 

Website: http://travelsandtipples.com