20190529_Romania_7222 Sighisoara sRGB av Dan Lundberg

View from the top of the covered stairway. In 1642 CE a roof was built over the 176-step Pupils’ Stairs up School Hill to where the school and the Church on the Hill are located. The citadel of Sighişoara dates to the 12th century CE when the King of Hungary invited Germans to settle in Transylvania (becoming known as Transylvanian Saxons) to defend what was then the Hungarian southeastern frontier. The site had previously been a fort in Roman times. The craftsmen and merchants who settled here made Sighişoara one of the most important cities of Transylvania. It was a royal center for the kings by 1337 CE. The German artisans and craftsmen formed the basis of the local economy and attracted artisans from throughout the Holy Roman Empire. During the 17th and 18th centuries CE the city endured military occupation, fires, and plagues. Following World War I, Transylvania passed from Austria-Hungary to the Kingdom of Romania. The well-preserved Old Town of Sighişoara is one of the few medieval citadels still inhabited. The Historic Centre of Sighişoara was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. On Google Earth: Covered Stairway 46°13'6.26"N, 24°47'28.45"E