THE CHURCH ON THE HILL - is with no doubt the most valuable architectonical monument of the city. The building of this church, put under St. Nicholas' patronage, began in 1345 and was continued intermittently until 1525. The church includes the two older constructions on the superior plateau of the hill: a Romanic chapel and a quadrilateral dungeon. The monument is also valuable through the only one chapel known in Transylvania, situated under the choir and which contains tombs dating from the 16th - 18th centuries. The church was partially painted outwardly and completely inwardly. In 1776, it was decided to destroy the old painting provided that exact copies should be achieved on parchment, which unfortunately were lost. The Church on the Hill underwent two ample restorations: one in 1934, when a part of the old frescoes were discovered, and the one in 1991-1999, integrally restored by the Messerschmitt Foundation from Munich, giving it the present aspect. There were kept inside rare pieces of religious sculpture and painting: the Gothic tabernacle made of stone with a jig sawed decor, the pulpit carved in 1480, and an old stone holy water front - the 15th century. St. Martin's polyptych shrine dates from the 14th century, and the wooden pews carved by J. Reychmut - from the 16th century. Of interest are also the funeral sculptures made by Elias Nicolai, situated inside the church, as well as the beautiful shrines brought from the churches of Saes and Cund.

THE MONASTERY CHURCH, dedicated to the Holy Virgin, belonged to the Dominican Monastery (demolished at the end of the 19th century), whose building began in the 13th century, and was mentioned by an indulgence given by Pope Boniface the 8th in 1298. At the end of the 15th century, the church was modified; the arched ceiling was built, its construction representing a holl - church type. After the great fire in 1676, the church underwent several repairs, the last ones in 1894 and 1929. Out of the old historically and artistically valuable old objects mention must be made of: a bronze font castled in 1440, a stone door frame carved in 1570 by the stone mason Toma, in the Renaissance style, built in the Northern wall of the Church, and 35 oriental carpets from the 17th century. They compensated the lack of adornment brought about by the triumph of Lutheranism in Sighisoara after 1556. In the simplicity of its interior, the church is given a distinct note by the Baroque shrine from 1680, carved by Johann West, and painted by the pilgrim painter Jeremias Stranovius. To them we also owe the Baroque organ, used nowadays for numerous concerts that are taking place in the Monastery Church.

The first PAROCHIAL CHURCH was situated, as the legend tells, close to Scara Acoperita (The Covered Stairs), where one can see even today its ruins (not older than the 14th century).

ST. JOSEPH ROMAN-CATHOLIC, built in 1894, after the demolishment of the Franciscan nuns'monastery, is situated on the North-Eastern side of the city, close to the precinct wall. Built in an eclectic style by the architect Letz, native from Sighisoara, the Church underwent internal repairs after the fire of 22nd Mars 1983. The present organon was bought from a Saxon church in the neighbourhood and was erected by Karl Einschenk in 1908.

THE LEPERS' CHURCH, situated in Down Town, on 34, Stefan cel Mare street, is a Gothic monument from the 15th century. Between 1647-1684, it was turned into a small church, which served the lepers'asylum. Westawardly it had a pulpit from which the priest was preaching to the sick men.

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH FROM CORNESTI, situated at the town's entrance from Targu-Mures, dedicated to the day of Holy Mother's Entrance into the Church, it is the first Romanian Christian building made of stone, in the region. Erected in 1788-1797, on the place of a wooden church, in the time of the priest Stefan Balas from Sacele Brasov, it is a neo-classical monument adapted to the requirements of the Orthodox cult. From that time there is still kept: the bell, a liturgical veil and a golden goblet.

The inner mural painting is the work of the artist Veniamin Precup (1983-1984). The old iconostasis painted by Ioan Pop from Brasov was offered to the Monastery from Jacul Romanesc, while the present one is dating from 1997 and is carved in wood by the artist Hutanu from Bacau.

THE ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL, situated on the Northern shore of the Tarnava Mare, dedicated to the Saint Trinity, is built between 1934-1937, in the time of the mayor Aurel Mosora by the architect Dumitru Petrescu Gopes. The inside painting is owed to the painter A. Demian.

Ultima actualizare: July 3 2002