Sibiu

A Roman fort may have stood on the site, but the city was founded by German settlers brought in by King Géza II of Hungary around 1147, from lands now in Germany, France and the Benelux. In 1191 the pope confirmed a free provostry of the Saxons with its seat here, the town was called Villa Hermanni by 1223, and the German name Hermannstadt is recorded from 1366. By the 14th century it was an important trading centre whose craftsmen were organised in 19 guilds, and it became the leading town of the Transylvanian Saxons and the seat of their self-governing Saxon University.

After the Ottomans withdrew, Sibiu became the capital of the Principality of Transylvania in 1699, and it was again the seat of the Transylvanian Diet between 1848 and 1867. In the same centuries it grew into a centre of Romanian life in Transylvania: the first Romanian-owned bank, Albina, and the cultural association ASTRA were founded here, and from the 1860s it became the seat of the Orthodox Metropolitan of Transylvania.

Sibiu joined Romania after the First World War with a German majority that lasted until 1941. From the 1950s to 1990 most of its Germans emigrated to West Germany and Austria, yet in 2000 the city elected Klaus Iohannis, a Transylvanian Saxon, as mayor; he held the post until 2014, when he became president of Romania. In 2007 Sibiu was European Capital of Culture with Luxembourg City, and the city and its surroundings are now among the most visited areas in the country.

Sibiu is known as the town with eyes, after the narrow eyebrow dormers that look out from its steep roofs. Its cultural life is large for its size. The Radu Stanca National Theatre, with roots in 1787, has Romanian and German sections and works with directors such as Silviu Purcărete; the Gong Theatre specialises in puppetry and mime; and the State Philharmonic plays in Thalia Hall, a concert hall of 1787 on the old fortifications. The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, one of the largest performing-arts festivals in the world, fills the city every June.

The year is crowded with other events: a medieval festival in August, the rock festival Artmania each summer, the oldest jazz festival in Romania, the Astra Film documentary festival and the Christmas market on the Great Square, the first in the country. In 2019 the region was a European Region of Gastronomy, and the same year the city hosted a summit of the European Union.

Three churches mark the city's faiths: the Lutheran cathedral of the Saxons, the Roman Catholic church on the Great Square and the Orthodox cathedral of the Metropolitan of Transylvania, which makes Sibiu one of the most important centres of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The city's best-known figures include two Transylvanian Saxon pioneers of rocketry, Conrad Haas and Hermann Oberth. Football follows FC Hermannstadt, which plays in the rebuilt municipal stadium in Sub Arini Park.

At the 2021 census Sibiu had 134,309 inhabitants, the 15th-largest city in Romania, and a proposed metropolitan area of about 267,000. Most residents are Romanian Orthodox; Protestants and Roman Catholics make up about 5 per cent. The city also administers the mountain resort of Păltiniș, 35 km away.

The city is an important economic hub with a high rate of foreign investment. Car-component factories run by companies such as ThyssenKrupp Bilstein, Continental and Marquardt fill industrial zones on the eastern and western edges of the city, alongside textiles, food processing and electrical equipment. Lucian Blaga University and other colleges bring more than 23,000 students, the city is a regional medical centre, and tourism has grown steadily since 2007.

Daily life moves between the flats and houses of the outer districts and the old centre, where people meet in the squares and parks. A motorway bypass opened in 2010 has taken heavy traffic out of the city, buses replaced the old trolleybuses, and cycling has revived on more than 40 km of lanes. Shopping has spread to a commercial zone with a mall in neighbouring Șelimbăr.

Sibiu's food is Transylvanian: ciorbă, the sour soups made with meat or vegetables, sarmale, stuffed cabbage leaves cooked in Transylvania with smoked pork between the rolls, stews and grills, often served with mămăligă, the cornmeal mush. Mici, grilled rolls of spiced minced meat, are most associated with outdoor grilling.

Two local products carry European protection. Salam de Sibiu, a salami, was registered in the European Union as a protected geographical indication in 2016, and Telemea de Sibiu, a white brined cheese a little like feta, gained the same status in 2019. The villages of Mărginimea Sibiului have long lived from shepherding, and bulz, mămăligă baked with cheese, is often eaten with sour cream.

Sweets include papanași, cheese doughnuts served with jam and sour cream, and kürtőskalács, the spit-baked chimney cake rolled in sugar. Țuică, plum brandy, and pălincă, a strong double-distilled fruit brandy of Transylvania, are poured as aperitifs. The cafés of the Little Square and the restaurants of the upper town are where most visitors eat.