Castle & fortressTransylvania

Clock Tower of Sighișoara: the gate tower with figures that turn at midnight

The Clock Tower of Sighișoara (Turnul cu Ceas, Stundturm) is the main entrance to the walled upper town in Mureș County, Transylvania, and at 64 m it can be seen from almost every corner of the city. It guarded the gate, served as town hall, and today holds the town’s history museum and its best viewing balcony, a good reason to plan things to do in Sighișoara around it.

The roof of Sighișoara’s Clock Tower is taller than the tower itself: 34 m of baroque roof sit on a 30 m body. And every midnight, a figure of the next day of the week slides into view.

WhereSighișoara, Mureș County, Transylvania, at the entrance to the walled upper town

TypeMedieval gate tower with a figure clock and a history museum; origins in the 13th–14th centuries

Best forViews from the balcony, the carved clock figures and a walk through the old town gate

Getting thereOn foot from the lower town up Strada Turnului; Saschiz fortified church is about 13 km away

The history of the Clock Tower of Sighișoara

Construction began at the end of the 13th century and was completed in the 14th as a plain gate tower, with at most two upper levels, built to defend the main gate of the upper town. Its ground floor and first two floors were made of sandstone and river stones, with walls 2.35 m thick at the base, and it probably looked much like the Tailors’ Tower opposite. Two parallel vaulted passages from the 13th century still cross the base. The approach was heavily defended: the way in led through several gates, the last of them fitted with a portcullis.

Unlike the other towers of the town, which were owned and defended by guilds, the Clock Tower was a public building. It housed the town administration and, on holidays, the town band. In the 16th century the old roof was taken down, two brick floors were added, and a balcony and a new roof were built. A wooden clock mechanism followed in 1604, which gave the tower the name Stundturm, the “hour tower”; in 1648 an iron mechanism replaced it, and the master craftsman Johann Kirschel added moving wooden figures to the two dials.

On 30 April 1676 a great fire struck the town. Three itinerant masters, Veit Gruber from Tyrol, Philip Bong from Salzburg and the carpenter Valentinus, called “the foreigner”, rebuilt the tower between March and September 1677 for 650 florins. Their baroque roof, with its turrets and onion-shaped bulbs, is the one visible today. The ball and weathercock were later damaged by musket fire in 1704, during the Kuruc rising, and in 1774 a crescent that had stood for Ottoman overlordship was replaced by a double eagle, the symbol of Habsburg rule.

A general repair in 1894 brought glazed roof tiles in white, yellow, red and green, and painted coats of arms on the façade. Since 1898 the tower has been a museum. A new clock mechanism, ordered from a Swiss firm, was installed on 1 April 1906, and in 1964 an electric motor took over without changing the old look of the clock. The tower is part of the Historic Centre of Sighișoara, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List (No. 902).

Curiosities about the Clock Tower of Sighișoara

The tower body is 30 m high, but the roof from base to tip measures 34 m, so the roof is taller than the tower beneath it.
The four corner turrets, each 12.5 m high, are symbols of the town’s judicial autonomy: they signalled that the local judge could pass and carry out death sentences.
Seven wooden figures stand on a rotating platform behind the dial facing the lower town. Every night at midnight it turns a few degrees, so that the figure for the new day is on show in the morning.
The seven figures stand not only for the days of the week but also for ancient gods, planets and metals: Sunday is the Sun and gold, Monday the Moon and silver, Tuesday Mars and iron, Wednesday Mercury, Thursday Jupiter, Friday Venus and copper, Saturday Saturn and lead.
The balcony was the town’s fire lookout: from it, watchers could quickly direct crews to the nearest of the nine water sources, vital in a town where wells had to be dug about 35 m deep.
A scale model of the tower stands in a miniature park in Szarvas, Hungary, and a copy of it forms the “Apostles’ Tower” of Vajdahunyad Castle in Budapest.

Tours near Clock Tower of Sighișoara

Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:

Bran (Dracula) Castle, Bear Sanctuary, Rasnov Fortress & Palinca Distillery

★ 5 (51 reviews) · 6 h

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Maramures best, full day tour from Cluj

★ 5 (37 reviews) · 12 h

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Sighisoara and Biertan: UNESCO in Transylvania

★ 5 (29 reviews) · 11 h

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Private Walking Tour of Sibiu

★ 5 (29 reviews) · 1.5 h

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Visiting the Clock Tower of Sighișoara: what to see

The gateway itself: the tower stands at the start of the climb to the upper town, and the path turns about 60 degrees to the left right after the gate, a deliberate defensive design.
The two dials, each 2.3 m across, with hand-painted black and gold numbers, and the little figure scenes beside them: Peace, a drummer, Justice, and Day and Night.
The history museum inside the tower and the balcony, the most important observation point in the town.
Just beyond the gate you face the south front of the former monastery church (built 1492–1515), now the Lutheran town church; the Tailors’ Tower stands on the opposite side of the citadel.
Opening arrangements change, so check the current opening hours before you go.

Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.

Map: where Clock Tower of Sighișoara is

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors

Photos of Clock Tower of Sighișoara

Questions

Where is the Clock Tower of Sighișoara?

It stands at the entrance to the walled upper town of Sighișoara in Mureș County, Transylvania, opposite the Tailors’ Tower, with the address Piața Muzeului no. 1 in the Romanian listing.

How tall is the Clock Tower of Sighișoara?

It is 64 m tall. The tower body is about 30 m and the baroque roof about 34 m.

When was the Clock Tower of Sighișoara built?

Building began at the end of the 13th century and the gate tower was completed in the 14th. Its present baroque roof dates from the rebuilding of 1677, after the fire of 1676.

What are the figures on the Clock Tower?

Behind the dial facing the upper town, figures of Peace, a drummer, Justice and Day and Night are arranged in a niche. A rotating platform with seven figures, one for each day of the week, turns at midnight.

Can you go inside the Clock Tower of Sighișoara?

Yes: it has housed the town’s history museum since the end of the 19th century and has a balcony with a wide view. Check the current opening hours before you go.

What else is worth seeing near Sighișoara?

Saschiz fortified church is about 13 km away, Biertan about 23 km, Viscri about 29 km and Dârjiu about 31 km.