A city on two levels
The upper for merchants and institutions, the lower for those below — twenty metres apart.
Andrei kokelburg — CC BY-SA 3.0 ro · Scotch Mist — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chris Light — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK — CC BY 2.0
A thirteenth-century tower and vaulted passage linking Sibiu's upper town to its lower town, among the oldest surviving elements of the city's fortifications. Sibiu is built on two levels: the upper town on a plateau, seat of the merchants, craftsmen and institutions, and the lower town at river level where the poor and the lesser trades lived. The difference in height is about twenty metres, and the connection between them runs through stairways and vaulted passages, of which this is the best known. The passage itself is an architectural experience: stone steps descending under successive arches between high walls, so the light arrives broken through the openings and changes with every step. Going down feels like a passage between two cities rather than two districts — which is what it actually was. The lower town, with its narrow streets and coloured houses, is far quieter than the upper and much less crowded with visitors. It is a public passage, open, and free to walk through.
The upper for merchants and institutions, the lower for those below — twenty metres apart.
Successive arches break the light, changing with every step.
Narrow streets, coloured houses and far fewer visitors.
Between the upper and lower towns
Narrow oval ventilation openings in the roofs of Sibiu's old houses, used to air the attic where provisions were stored. Their shape and position make them look like eyes watching the street, and they are the most photographed thing in the city. The popular story is that they were built to watch people, but the real reason is purely functional. You see them everywhere in the upper town, particularly around the small square.
The lower town has no major sights but an atmosphere: narrow streets, houses painted in faded colours, arches and passages, and old craftsmen in some workshops. It is the best place in Sibiu to walk without a plan, particularly in the morning. Moving between the two towns through the different stairways and passages — there are several — is better than the tourist route in the upper town alone.
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