SHOEMAKERS' TOWER

ARCHAEOLOGY, ARCHITECTURE
AND HISTORY

Student: Mera Vlad-Ionuț

 Surrounded by lower hills to the south and east, and more distant ones to the north, the
Citadel Hill in Sighișoara has been the most suitable location for a medieval fortification, adding
to the constructed defensive system the potential defense offered by the terrain.
With a length of 850 meters, the Citadel Hill features steep slopes to the west and north. It
is composed of two plateaus, being higher towards the west, where it stands 78 meters above the
Lower Town, and lower towards the northeast, where it is only 30 meters high.
The oldest area protected by fortifications, possibly dating back to the end of the 12th
century, is the upper plateau. Initially, there were probably only earth and wooden fortifications.
This small fortress, possibly a royal castrum or the seat of a locator of German (or Walloon)
origin, preceded the first organized group of German settlers.
The settlement of German colonists, both before and after the great Tatar-Mongol invasion
of 1241, along with the gradual development of the settlement and its evolution from rural to
urban, especially the increasing role played by the Șaeș Valley in its relationship with Sibiu, made
a more serious fortification necessary. This led to the construction of a stone enclosure, initially
still in the area of the upper plateau. The small fortress had an autonomous character and was
probably the first nucleus with solid fortifications after the mid-13th century.
Harmoniously and organically integrated into the defensive system of the medieval
enclosure, the Shoemakers' Tower is located in the north-western part of the citadel, at an
important strategic point. This area was in demand and, for a time, even vulnerable to attacks
coming from the west or north-west, from the Târnava Mare Valley or along the so-called "great
road leading to Sighișoara" — otherwise a shorter connection between Alba Iulia and eastern
Transylvania.
Although its current form shows Baroque influences, the Shoemakers' Tower is part of the
fortification belt from the late 13th century. This fact became certain only in 2002, when the
monument was archaeologically investigated through three exterior sections and an equal number
of interior sections.
Firstly, it was observed that the oldest chronological elements found within the perimeter
of the Shoemakers' Tower are much earlier than the medieval construction, belonging to the early
Hallstatt period. The archaeological inventory from that era, though fragmentary, is substantial
and significant. It was found exclusively in the section positioned centrally on the eastern side of
the monument (S. 1), in the layer on which the foundation of the current tower rests (with the
upper limit on average at -2.2m from the current walking level).
These discoveries are not the only ones documenting a much earlier Dacian settlement
predating the fortified enclosure, but until the beginning of the Middle Ages, with the exception of
a few isolated pieces that can be tentatively dated to around the 5th-6th century, we have no
knowledge of the existence of other materials that can document a constant human presence
during this long time interval. Moreover, on the profiles in this section (S.1.), a sandy, yellow-
greenish layer is clearly visible, which isolates the prehistoric level from the early medieval
layers, containing materials from the 14th-15th centuries.
However, the results of the excavations inside were surprising, revealing the existence of
an older, rectangular-shaped tower, previously unsuspected. This tower is located in the south-
western part of the current tower, partially overlapping its southern and western sides.
Internally, the rectangular tower has an area of 4.5/3.8m, and the walls have an average
width of 1.5m and are very well constructed, carefully built with medium and small-sized stone
slabs, neatly laid and well bonded with regular courses, using a hard mortar made of lime and
sand. Interestingly, although the south-west corner of the rectangular tower is clearly visible from

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 the outside, it has not raised any questions until now, probably being mistaken for a buttress, even
though the position for such a supporting element is strange and entirely atypical.
Chronologically, it is impossible to date this tower with certainty, but based on its plan,
dimensions, and position, it can be assumed that it was part of the first stage of fortification of the
Citadel Hill, being built towards the end of the 13th century or at the beginning of the following
century, together with the Clock Tower, the Blacksmiths' Tower, the Goldsmiths' Tower, the Rope-
makers' Tower, the Tailors' Tower, the Locksmiths' Tower, and the Carpenters' Tower. The
Blacksmiths' Tower represents, we believe, a model in terms of the elevation aspect of the old
rectangular tower. Considering the development of the guilds in Sighișoara, it is natural to assume
that they had a direct connection to the construction of the fortification system, and the
shoemakers are among the first guilds documented in 1376, as well as having preserved the oldest
original documents - from the period 1557-1598.
The existence of the rectangular-shaped Shoemakers' Tower, mentioned in 1522, lasted
until the beginning of the 17th century when it was rebuilt into its current plan following the
bombardment carried out in 1605 by mercenaries of Prince Ștefan Bocskai. The event can be
linked to a layer with strong traces of burning, visible inside (in S. 5, on the west profile) - a layer
that, under the relieving arch of the southwest wall belonging to the tower, appears only within
the perimeter of the rectangular and hexagonal tower.
Regarding the relationship between the square Shoemakers' Tower and the enclosure wall,
two distinct phases can be observed. In the first stage, the enclosure wall descended from the
Tailors' Tower and connected to the southwest corner of the Shoemakers' Tower. However, while
the path remained unchanged here, things happened differently further on, where initially, the
enclosure wall was directly attached to the northeast corner and connected towards the east to the
Locksmiths' Tower.
This enclosure, probably erected at the same time as the tower, was 3-4 meters high in the
1420s-1430s when, under the threat of the Turkish danger, King Sigismund of Luxembourg
compelled the free communities to build or reinforce their own fortifications. At that time, the
wall was equipped with a walkway, through which the battlements were accessible, arranged for
bows and crossbows. The existence of the walkway is evidenced by a footing discovered outside,
in the northeast corner of the hexagonal tower, which is interwoven with the mentioned enclosure.
At the end of the 16th century, with the reconstruction of the tower into its current plan, a portion
of the connecting wall with the Locksmiths' Tower, more precisely the part located inside the
hexagonal construction, was dismantled to enlarge the functional space, intended not only for
military activities but also for strictly economic ones. The level of dismantling could not be
captured in excavation, but in one of the sections (S.6), the footprint of the disused wall was
clearly highlighted.
In the last decade of the 15th century, extensive works on the walls of the citadel are
documented, during which some parts were raised to 5-6 meters, while others were repositioned.
It is the time when 1 meter to the west of the northeast corner of the rectangular tower, a second
enclosure wall is added, replacing the first one but on a different trajectory, starting southeast and
then turning east, connecting to the same Locksmiths' Tower. This second enclosure has a width
of 1.2 meters in elevation, with a 0.2-meter setback on both sides, located at approximately -0.5
meters from the interior walking level, a level that can be suspected as the walking level for the
14th-15th centuries, and implicitly for the rectangular tower. The foundation base for this wall
was observed only on the outside (in S.3), where it is 1.8 meters from the walking level (-5.04
meters/w).

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 Constructively, it can be said that the new wall was erected on filled relieving arches
placed on a cultural layer (imprecise due to modern and contemporary interventions), on soil of
black color. It was exclusively built from medium and small-sized stones, bonded with a hard
mortar made of lime and sand starting from the foundation base.
In 1603, the Citadel opened its gates to the Imperial troops of General Basta, who, fearing
an attack from the northwest, reinforced the area around the Shoemakers' Tower with an earth
mound and palisade. However, it was insufficient.
The chronicler Georgius Kraus notes that in August 1605, mercenaries of Prince Stephen
Bocskai bombarded Sighișoara from the northwest, from the Crucii Hill (Kreutzberg), a branch of
the Gării Hill (Siechhof), with heavy projectiles weighing 20-25 pounds, and almost completely
demolished the wall from the Shoemakers' Tower to the Locksmiths' Tower, even though just two
years earlier, this very point had been reinforced by soldiers under General George Basta.
The ineffectiveness of the rudimentary fortifications from 1603 and the destruction in 1605
prompted the local authorities to reconsider the defensive system in the area between the
Locksmiths' Tower and the Shoemakers' Tower. The current monument was erected, tripling the
interior space, efficiently utilizing the previous ruins, and adopting a hexagonal plan suitable for
the new siege techniques, where the primary role was played by bombardments. Consequently,
the "new" Shoemakers' Tower almost entirely overlapped the south and west sides of the old
rectangular tower, significantly expanding towards the north (to enhance the defense on the
connecting wall with the Locksmiths' Tower) and towards the east, within the citadel.
The new stage is evident wherever masonry relationships were captured. For example, the
current southeast wall is attached and overlaps the east wall of the rectangular tower; the
southwest wall partially overlaps the southern ruin; the west side is almost entirely laid on the
same side of the original construction, while the northwest, northeast, and east sides are attached
to and "ride over" the two previous phases of the medieval enclosure.
The architectural aspect born at the end of the 16th century was accompanied by a proven
technique, that of relieving arches, visible on the southwest side of the "hexagon," where the new
masonry makes a setback towards the outside, impossible to support with its own foundation, as
well as on the northeast side, where the short distance between the old enclosure walls prompted
medieval craftsmen to repeat the same solution of resistance.
Additionally, a new masonry (zidăriei în trepte) solution was used. Thus, the base of the
east wall is at -4.1m/w, the northwest base is at -7.08m/w, descending unspecified on the west
side. Similarly, on the east side, the elevation starts at -1.7m/w, and on the northwest side, it starts
from -3.94m/w. Overall, the entire tower benefits from massive and robust foundations and
elevations, without cracks or fissures, made of medium-sized boulders, with rare fragments of
brick for leveling, all bound with a good-quality mortar made of lime and sand.
Although the plan envisioned at the beginning of the 17th century remains to this day, the
elevation and interior function of the Shoemakers' Tower have undergone several conjunctural
modifications.
Thus, in 1613, due to a shortage of flour, the city magistrate allowed the shoemakers' guild
to install a hand mill in the tower "for as long as they pleased." Consequently, it can be inferred
that at that time, there was no central pillar, and the space was more extensive, with the eastern
half of the tower arranged as a basement. The entrance was made under a vault later sealed with
masonry. Traces of the old entrance are visible both outside and inside, with the threshold at
-1.7-1.8m/w, meaning 0.5m below the current exterior floor level and 1.4m below the interior
level. Additionally, inside, at the level of the threshold, the trace of a wooden floor is evident, with

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even one end of a beam preserved near the east wall of the old rectangular tower.
The expansion in volume of the Shoemakers' Tower was followed by the arrangement of
the bastion of the same name, sometimes also mentioned as the Nuns' Bastion ("Bastionul
Călugărițelor" or "Nonnenschantze").
According to the "Wachsmann-Göbel" chronicle, in 1657, the city council wanted the new
bastion to be built in front of the Shoemakers' Tower so that it could also bombard the "rear
gate" (the Tailors' Tower), but due to economic reasons, the mayor wanted to use an older wall,
"and thus the bastion, with less consideration for needs than for expenses, was erected in its
current location out of fear of the Tartars within a month." This old wall mentioned in the
chronicle is precisely the first enclosure wall.
As the fortification work was completed in 1658, during the reign of Prince George
Rákóczi II, an inscription composed of three stone plaques with bas-relief letters was placed on
one of the faces of this tower. The upper plaque contained the city's coat of arms (the oldest
known one) and the motto "NOMEN DOMINI TURRIS FORTISSIMA" (The name of the Lord is
the strongest tower). The middle plaque had the following text in a border: "Under the reign of the
illustrious and enlightened Prince G. Rákóczi II, by the grace of God, Prince of Transylvania and
Count of the Székelys." The last plaque mentioned the officials who took care of the inscription
"Through the care and effort of Mr. Johann Both, mayor of the city, and Petrus Nussbaum, royal
judge." The first two inscriptions are preserved in the History Museum, while the last, severely
damaged in 1857, has disappeared.
The second half of the 17th century also brought with it the flames of the most devastating
disaster in the city's history: the great fire of April 30, 1676, which claimed 624 houses, 120
peasant households, seven defense towers, the Clock Tower, the two churches of the nunneries,
and the Church of the Monastery. In the Tailors' Guild protocol, Andreas Göbel, who made the
"true description of the aforementioned fire," even said that after the explosion of ammunition
from the Tailors' Tower in the Citadel, not even as much as a table remained intact. The damages
significantly affected the Shoemakers' Tower, which only acquired its current form in 1681, also
experiencing a strong earthquake. Now, the basement is abandoned and sealed, the old entrance is
closed, and the current one is opened. The central pillar is exclusively made of brick, the windows
take on the form of a handle, and two observation turrets are arranged on the east and west sides
(the latter now disappeared), both visible in a "Sketch" made by Andreas Blasius in 1704 ("Sketch
of the Schäßburg Castle from 1162 to 1704 from Andreas Blasius Legacy - Presumably by his
hand"), preserved in the local museum.
Regarding access to the upper level, it was almost always ensured by an external staircase,
and only from the second half of the 19th century (after 1861), by an internal staircase, with a
small hatch between the two levels. The external staircase could have been supported by wooden
posts, placed on a brick base, similar to the one discovered near the northwest corner (S.2).
Whether it followed the current route or not cannot be inferred.
The city's General Register from that time mentions an inventory of the armaments in the
tower: "14 large arquebuses, 6 small arquebuses, 3 muskets, 2 quintals of lead, 2 quintals of
gunpowder, several cannonballs, 8 lances, and a two-handed sword." Additionally, from the
defense plan from 1704, we learn that "11 fighters from the shoemakers' guild will defend the
tower, and the bastion must be defended by 20 fighters. The apprentices of the shoemakers are to
defend half of the wall towards the Tailors' Tower, while the other half is defended by tailors."
The last fortification of the area occurred in the 18th century when this portion of the
enclosure was doubled with an embankment and a ditch, the latter probably being the origin of the

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names Schanzplatz for the square near the Shoemakers' Tower and Schanzgasse, the street
connecting to Citadel Square - the current Bastion Street.
The first enclosure wall appears on a city plan from 1750 (Stadtplan Theumer 1750),
partially demolished in 1846 - when a gate protected by a "watchtower" console was visible,
located approximately halfway between the current wall between the Shoemakers' Tower and the
Carpenters' Tower - and completely disappears along with the former Clarisse Monastery and the
Carpenters' Tower in 1894 to make way for a Catholic church. Finally, during the rehabilitation of
the pavement in the medieval Citadel of Sighișoara, the old enclosure wall will either be marked
at ground level or rebuilt up to a certain level.
After the military function of the Shoemakers' Tower disappeared, it was used in the
modern era as the city's archive and now houses, in the upper part, a newspaper editorial office,
and in the attic, a radio station.
In conclusion, the Tower of the Shoemakers in Sighișoara stands as a testament to the city's
rich history and resilience. From its origins in the late 13th century as a defensive structure to its
transformation over the centuries, including surviving fires and threats, the tower reflects the
endurance and adaptability of Sighișoara. Today, it serves not only as a historic landmark but also
as a vibrant hub for media activities, symbolizing the city's ongoing vitality and evolution. Its
strategic location, architectural evolution, and varied functions over time encapsulate the
multifaceted story of Sighișoara's past and present.

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 Bibliography:

Book:
“MUNICIPIUL SIGHISOARA
MUZEUL DE ISTORIE
ALT-SCHAESSBURG Istorie.
Patrimoniu Nr. 2, 2009”

- IOAN F.PASCU – Turnul

Cizmarilor. Arheologie si istorie