Saxon Transylvania — pastel towers and smoked cheese
Sibiu (Hermannstadt in German) is Romania's best-preserved medieval city, founded by Saxon colonists in the 12th century and ringed by three concentric defensive walls whose towers still stand intact. The Piața Mare is one of Central Europe's most beautiful squares — flanked by baroque palaces housing the Brukenthal National Museum, one of the oldest art galleries in Europe. Kürtősch chimney cake, ciorbă de burtă tripe soup, and Transylvanian smoked meats fill the market hall year-round.
German colonists known as Transylvanian Saxons settled here from the Rhine Valley in the 1140s, invited by Hungarian kings to defend the frontier. Sibiu became one of the richest cities of medieval Europe, with 19 guilds and trade routes stretching to Constantinople. Romania's revolution largely bypassed it — today it's one of the country's wealthiest cities, capital of Sibiu County, and a 2007 European Capital of Culture.