Bootmakers' Tower
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The Bootmakers' Tower (, , ) is located in the north-east of the Citadel in Sighişoara, belonging to
Mureș County Mureș County (, , ) is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative reor ...
in
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
. The building has
baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
architectural influences. Despite its low height, the tower is interesting due to its
pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...
plan, an outer diameter of 10 meters long and a roof hosting two small and elegant observation towers, one facing South-east and one North-west. The current tower was built in 1681 on the site of a previous destroyed tower.


Restorations

The earliest documents mentioning the old tower are dated 1522. A large amount of
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
was contained inside the tower and this is the main reason why the fire of 1676 destroyed it completely. In 1681 a brand new tower, under the leadership of Major Michael Helwig, was built according to the baroque style. The tower used to have a
bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...
of
artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
which was demolished in 1846. The General Registry of the city, which keeps a weapon inventory shows the presence in the past of fourteen large and six small
arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. The term ''arquebus'' was applied to many different forms of firearms ...
es, three
musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...
s, two quintals of
lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
, two quintals of gunpowder, many cannonballs, eight
spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...
s and a two handed sword. The Citadel tower facade has changed as well, especially following its transformation into a depository of archival documents after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The windows were enlarged, assuming very different dimensions from the ones in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
; this modification also necessitated modifications to the entrance. In recent years, during 2001, an exterior wooden staircase was built on the facade of the tower. Even if the latest restoration does not respect the architecture of the past, it does not distort significantly the appearance of the monument. Currently the tower hosts the local radio station. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bootmakers' Tower Towers completed in 1681 Buildings and structures in Mureș County Baroque architecture in Romania Sighișoara