This is the second part of my series about the medieval city of Targu Mures. If you have missed the first part, please check it out here -> The Medieval Fortress - Part 1.
This wonderful fortress is the beauty f the city, the proof of how old the city really is. The fortress dates back to the 15th century and has been through several renovation works over the years.
During communism, the fortress was occupied by the army. You could go in and take a walk, but that was pretty much all. None of the bastions were open, no events were organized. There was a recruitment center that was of essence as military service was mandatory that time. The rest was used as storage room.
After the communist era ended, the fortress was given back to the rightful owners, aka the city and its citizens. The life of the fortress has changed dramatically, cultural events have been organized there, exhibitions, markets and concerts.
Inside the fortress walls there's a reformed church and a museum. On the photo above you can see the museum of history and architecture. What better place for a museum, right?
On the front wall there are these metal plaques, featuring important moments of
the fortresses life. The one on the right is featuring the workers building the fortress. The one in the middle is featuring the fortress and the one on the left illustrates a scenes in which the ruler receives a delegation of three people, one of them is handing the ruler a parchment document. Those days were very different, information was transmitted via couriers and representatives.
There are two lamps here, one in front of the building, the other at the corner. These are new obviously but I really appreciate respecting the style of those times.
In front of the museum there's a mock-up of the fortress, with braille writing. This is very interesting as it gives visitors a view from above.
The braille writing is especially appreciated as I haven't seen any in the city till now. This is the 21st century, everyone has a right to learn.
Unfortunately the museum was closet at the time of my visit, the note on the door said they are reorganizing the museum. I would have loved to see what they are displaying.
Behind the museum I came across some really valuable treasures. Valuable for me at least.
These stones, boulders were piled up behind the museum. Beside the fact that I love stones and boulders, I find these of high value as must be old. I don't know how old but imagine that during the time the fortress was built, stones were the most important building materials. Brick was used back then but stones were more reliable, more resistant.
I was standing there for life five minutes, looking at these big stones and thinking of how those poor workers were building the fortress. Technology was rudimentary, there were not tools, machines like today, so it must have been hard to handle all these stones.
This is another entrance of the fortress, from the wonderful green alley that offers you a place to rest in the shades of century old trees. I'm going to post photos of the alley later in this post, or in the next one if this gets too long.
In the back you can see the Butcher's Bastion, which is closed to the public, but you can go up the stairs and take a walks along the wall.
There's a trilingual board at the entrance, where you can check the map of the fortress and read about each building.
Next to the entrance, there's a small restaurant with a terrace, where you can have a drink or serve lunch.
From this terrace you can enjoy the view of these old trees and the flowers.
This is it for today, stay tuned for the next episode.
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