Saxon Heritage in Transylvania Tour

On Sunday we did a Saxon Heritage in Transylvania tour.  The Transylvanian Saxons were German-speaking settlers who lived in Transylvania for about 800 years.  They were invited by Hungarian kings in the 12-13th centuries.  The Saxons were trades and crafts people who helped strengthen Christianity and defended the eastern border of the Kingdom of Hungary.

Siebel was our first stop.  It's a rural village, off about 400 people, in the foothills of the Transylvania Alps.  

The Holy Trinity Church is an Orthodox church built in 1765 and it's a registered historic landmark.  There's a small cemetery adjacent to the courtyard.

Next to the church is the Museum of Icons on Glass.  It opened in the 1960s and has one of the largest collections of glass painted icons in Romania.

Fântânele is a nearby small village of about 250 people.  It's small but it's a nice place for a walk.

The Saint Nicholas Church was built in 1771 and is a registered historic monument.  

The hill next to the church is a cemetery and there's a nice view of the local area from the top.

Sibiu is about 170 km (105 miles) from Cluj.  The city is home to about 134.000 people.  It used to be known as Hermanstadt and it's the capital of the historic region of Transylvania. 

The Lutheran Cathedral of Our Lady in Sibiu was built in the 14th -16th centuries.

The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity was built in the 18th century and is considered one of the most important Baroque churches in Transylvania.

The Thalia Hall opened in 1788 and it is home to the Sibiu State Philharmonic Orchestra. 

Carpenter's Tower is part of the city's historic fortifications.

Sibiu was a lovely city but unfortunately we only had a couple of hours to visit after lunch.  I'm definitely up for a weekend trip to Sibiu to properly explore.

Gliwice, Poland

Gliwice is located in southern Poland, about 25 km (16 miles) west of Katowice.  The city was founded in 1250 and it's home to just over 180.000 people.  Gliwice is one of the oldest cities in Upper Silesia, is an important industrial centre and a university town.  On Friday evening, we hopped on a train for a weekend away.

Gliwice where is WWII began.  Prior to the war, the city was called Gleiwitz and it was a part of Germany.  On 31 August 1939, German SS officers, wearing Polish military uniforms, commode a false-flag attack on the radio station.  Nazi Germany used this as an excuse to invade Poland the next day which was the start of WWII.

The Gliwice Radio Tower is the world's last wooden radio tower.  It is 118 metres (387 feet) tall and it is part of a local museum and a registered historic monument.

The Market Square dates back to the late 13th century making it one of the oldest medieval squares in Upper Silesia.

In the centre of the square is the neoclassic town hall and a fountain.  Around the square are a number of restaurants and cafes.

Saint Bartholomew's Church dates back to the late 1200s.  It was rebuilt in the 15th century and expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Christ the King Church is a Catholic Church that was consecrated in 1935.

The All Saints Church was built in the late 15th to early 16th century.  The exterior is Gothic and the interior is Baroque.  The tower is about 63 metres (207 feet) tall.

The Church of the Holy Cross is a Baroque era parish church that was built in 1623.  It is part of a monastery complex and is a registered cultural heritage monument.

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a wooden church that was built in 1493.  It was moved to its current location in 1925, near an old German cemetery. 

At Starokozielski Park is the Memorial Sarcophagus of French Soldiers.  It is a war memorial for 71 French soldiers who died while serving in Upper Silesia in 1920-1922 following WWI.

The Jews House of Remembrance is a branch of the Gliwice Museum focused on the history of the Jews in Upper Silesia.  The building was completed in 1903 and located next to an old Jewish cemetery.

There are over 600 tombstones in the cemetery.

Back in 1929 there were approximately 2.200 Jews in Gliwice.  Only 25 survived WWII with all of them being in mixed marriages with gentiles.

The Red Army Cemetery was established in 1951.  

There are about 2500 Soviet soldiers buried here.

The Weichmann Textile House was built in 1922.  It was built as a textile and department store.  In 1988it was designated as a historic monument.

The 19th century Chopin Park is home to the municipal Palm House, one of the country's largest.  

The brick water tower was built in 1918.

Vila Caro was built in 1885 for a local industrialist.  Today it is a museum.

Piast Castle was built in the mid-1300s.  Today it is part of the city museum.

The Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul was completed in 1900.  The church became a cathedral in 1992.

Gliwice has a street art scene and we found an industrial area that was full of various murals.

We enjoyed our little Polish city break weekend.  Well worth the trip.

Slovenská Ľupča, Slovakia

Slovenská Ľupča is a village in central Slovakia, about 10 km (6.5 miles) east of Banská Bystrica.  It sits on the right bank of the Hron River, between the Low Tatras and the Slovak Ore Mountains.

The village was once a royal town and dates back to 1250.  It's home to about 3300 people. 

The Church of the Most Holy Trinity is a Roman Catholic church that was built in early 14th century, between 1330 - 1370.

The church was just renovated last year.

Next to the church is the local plague column.

Nearby is the Kulturne Stredisko, the Slovak equivalent of a Czech Culture House, or community centre.

The Evangelical church is no longer actually an Evangelical church.  After WWII, the church was transferred to the Catholic Church.

There's some street renovation going on around the church now.  

Next to the church is an SNP monument.

There are over 2500 people buried in the town cemetery.  The oldest grave is from 1866.

On a hill, overlooking the city, is the town castle.  It was built prior to 1250 and served as a royal residence. 

It also served as a guard castle and oversaw important commercial routes.  The castle is a Slovak national cultural monument.

It has been owned by a management company since 2002, which offers guided tours to the public. 

From the top of the hill are some lovely views. 

I'm not 100% whether the view is of the Low Tatras or of the Slovak Ore Mountains, but pretty either way.

Kuşadasi, Türkiye

Kuşadasi is a beach resort on the west coast of Türkiye, about 95 km (59 miles) south of Izmir.  With a population of almost 114.000 people it is the 117th biggest city in the country.  However, during the tourist season, which kicks off in about another week, the population reaches almost 2 million people.

Big cruises ships arrive daily with many tourists opting for a tour of Ephesus.  Others come to enjoy the 25 km (15,5 miles) miles of beach along the Aegean.

Kuşadasi is old and many of the locals refer to the town as Ada.  The earliest settlements in the area date back to around 3000 BC.  Over the centuries it has been part of the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Byzantine Empire.  In 1413, it became part of the Ottoman Empire.  After WWI, it was controlled by Greece until it became part of Türkiye in 1922.  In 1923, the local Greek population was exchanged for Turks as part of the population exchange under the Lausanne Treaty.

Güvercinada, "Pigeon Island" is an island connected to the city by a 350 metre (1.150 foot) causeway.

The island has a castle which was built back in the 1770s.  In 2020 the castle became a tentative UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Near the harbour is the Öküz Mehmed Pasha Caravanserai that was built from 1615 - 1618.  It was a safe place for merchants to stay with their goods and later as a customshouse.  In 1968 it opened as a hotel and in 2022 the last hotel owner ceased operations.

Kale Kapisi, the Castel Gate, was part of the city walls built in the 17th century.  The upper floor was once used as a police station but there is now some kind of micro miniature art centre.

The Kaleiçi Mosque is the old town mosque, in the middle of the bazaar area that was built back in 1618.

The clock tower was built in 1996.

The Ibramaki Art Gallery originally opened as a hospital at the end of the 19th century.  In 2009, the local municipality restored the building and turned it into a gallery.

The old cemetery has graves from the 1700-1800's.

More than 400 homes of the Tepe neighbourhood are being revitalised under the city's "Let's Colour" programme with homes pained in various shades of pink, yellow, blue, orange, green and purple.

At the port, there are daily 1,5 hour ferries between Kuşadasi and the Greek island Samos.  We wanted to check it out but the ferries only run from April to October.

About 30 km (19 miles) south of the city is the Dilek Peninsula-Büyük Menderes Delta National Park.  There are dense forests, hiking trails, and beach, plus wild boars running around.

It was still just a wee bit too cold to lie out on the sand but it felt good to at least be at the beach.

Near the national park is the Cave of Zeus.  

There is a 10 metre (33 feet) deep pool that is off limits to swim in.  Legend has it that this is where Zeus would take refuge whenever his brother Poseidon would whip up a deadly storm.

Another story goes that Zeus would slip away here, from Mount Olympus and his wife Hera, to swim with local girls.

Yedi Uyurlar Mağarası is the Cave of the Seven Sleepers.  The story is that in 250 AD, the Roman Emperor ordered everyone to perform a sacrifice to dedicate themselves to the empire and to the Roman gods, or be executed.  Seven Christians refused and hid in the cave.  Romans found the young men asleep in the cave and sealed them in.  

One day a farmer opened the cave and found the men asleep.  When they awoke, they pooled their money to buy food but when they tried to pay they discovered their money was over 150 years old.  The cave, located outside of Ephesus was excited in the 1920s and found a number of Christian games from the 5th and 6th centuries.  

The Çamlik Railway Museum is home to one of the largest largest collection of steam locomotives, with more than 30, from 1891 to 1951.  The outdoor museum isn't well known but thanks to Atlas Obscura we went to have a look at it was well worth the visit.

We really enjoyed our week in Kuşadasi.  It's definitely worth a visit with lots of places to explore.  I wish the weather would have been just a little warmer but I'm quite glad that we managed to visit before all of the tourists rush in.

Here's a short Rick Steves video I found out on YouTube.

©Rick Steves