I dont know abou you, but I am so interesed in knowing more about the

important buildings in our city. For today I decided to talk about Brukenthal
Museum. In the start I should tell that is one of my favourite place in this city. I
think its that kind of place where you can learn a lot about art and even more.

This is an outstanding museum based around the collection of Samuel von

Brukenthal, an 18th century governor of Sibiu who sponsored major cultural
projects in an effort to make Sibiu a centre of intellectualism. His legacy includes
both a school ,on Piata Huet,and the museum that carries his name. Built
between 1778 and 1788 as a private home, the modern day museum is home to
over 1000 works of art by artists as diverse as Van Mieris, Carriera, da Cadore,
Raoux and Titian, and often includes modern works commissioned from local
artists especially for the museum. Titians Ecce homo is a pure delight and
probably the highlight of a visit here. Other exhibitions not to be missed include
the Transylvanian sculptures in stone, print works, stamps and the Gothic
exhibition: the latter is the first permanent exhibition to explore the roots of the
phenomenon in the visual arts of the late 18th and 19th centuries, emphasizing
literary sources and the historical context of the Neo-Gothic reaction to the
enlightenment. On the second floor of the museum you will find the entrance to
the separate Romanian Art Gallery, a fantastic collection of paintings featuring all
of the greatest ever Romanian painters, including Misu Popp, Theodor Aman,
Nicolae Tonitza and Nicolae Grigorescu. To be honest, there is not a duff
collection in the entire building, and you really should allow yourself enough time
to have the luxury of being able to see it all.

At the arhitecture part I would like to say that this building was design by a
vienesse arhitect, in a late barouqe style. As we can see by passing by the
Brukenthal museum, the facade is an impressive one, decorated with sculptures
and the rock portal bears. The cellings are decoraded with moulding motifs and
have wooden pales descripting mythological scene.

After being Brukenthals residence, was fonded as museum on 25th February

1817. So it is the oldest museum from Romania, and the second oldest from
Europe.

I chose to talk about Brukenthal museum because, in my opinion is one of the

most cultural buildings in Sibiu and in Romania. We should promovate this kind
of places and keep them safe.
The Council Tower

The Sfatului Tower or Council Tower is located between the Big Square of Sibiu and
the Small Square of Sibiu both located Downtown.It is the emblem of the city ,
perhaps the most famous monument.The tower was built in the thirteenth century
and was first mentioned in a written document in 1370.

Its name is linked to the building next door, which was the first municipal
council of the city.The tower was , at that time , the entrance gate of the city , serving
defense, and integrated in the second city wall.The tower was built in the sixteenth
century.The last level was added in 1829 and the roof you see now dates from the
nineteenth century.Through the centuries , the tower was used as a place to store
bags of grain or even as a prison. You can climb a staircase to engjoy the beautiful
view of the medieval city center.

The council Tower is a seven levels building , the frontends can be identified
easily by the wall fortification with narrow openings.The building is supported by tall
butresses wich withdraw in steps on the sides from the Big Square to the Small
Square. In the south side butresses are carved two lions whereof are supposed to be
from the renaissance ( last third of the XVI century)
On the ground floor there is a big arched passageway which connects the Big
Square with the Small Square.Also a second passageway was built in 1930 , on the
right side , by demolition of a neighboring building located in the Small Square.The
acces inside the tower is made trough a small door located on the Small Square side
of the tower.From here you can climb a very narrow spiral staircase to get to the
upper floors.At the sixth floor you cand find the clock mechanism that has four
quadrants on each side of the tower and the top floor was designed so people can
admire the beautiful view of the old part of the city.
After 17th of February 1585, when the top floors have crashed, extensive
reconstruction works were carried out. After it was repaired several times in the
XVIIIth century, the tower has supported radical interventions in the upper part.

The towers roof , pyramidal shaped has four small towers located at the
corners was repaired several times in the XVIII century first in 1719 then in 1750 ,
when they decided to replace the roof with a cheaper smaller one . This one was
replaced after in 1824-1826 when they added the last level and replaced the roof
again.