Most of the guild towers in Sighisoara can still be seen today. Of the 14 originally built, each belonging to a different guild, nine are still standing, including the Clock Tower. Some of them served as ammunition depots, others had a direct defensive role, which is why explosions partially or totally destroyed them; some have been restored or completely rebuilt and now have various local uses:
– The Shoemaker’s Tower, rebuilt several times and the current home of the local radio station;
– Blacksmiths’ Tower, built on the foundations of the Barbers’ Tower, burnt down in a fire but rebuilt;
– The Cojocarilors’ Tower, also destroyed in the fire of 1676, but rebuilt and located at the Törle Gate, in the area where the herds were divided;
– Butchers’ Tower, on the other side of the same gate, with a hexagonal base for easier defence;
– The Tailors’ Tower, destroyed by the explosion of the ammunition stored here, but rebuilt, acts as a gate to the fortress, like the Clock Tower, but is located on the opposite side;
– The Ashlar Tower, next to the Church on the Hill, is the only tower that now serves as a dwelling for the keeper of the evangelical cemetery next door;
– The Tower of the Sewers, even though it was attacked, could never be conquered, but its walls retain the traces of the bullets received;
– The Tower of the Tanners, one of the oldest towers in the fortress, preserved to this day;
Five other towers have not survived, however, some destroyed, others used for other purposes:
– The Weavers’ Tower – was demolished, and its stones were used for the paving of the fortress;
– The Aurors’ Tower – was located next to the Church on the Hill, but burnt down in a lightning strike and in its place was built a gymnasium of the nearby high school, which then became the chapel of the cemetery next to it;
– The Locksmiths’ Tower and the Doge’s Tower – once located between the Shoemakers’ Tower and the Blacksmiths’ Tower;
– Fishermen’s Tower – located on the river bank near the mill outside the fortress; a model of it can still be seen in the Clock Tower Museum.
Last modified: November 15, 2022
