Transylvania - Romania and Bulgaria - page 272

the gate is Horea's death cell (Celula lui Horea), where the leader of the great 1784 peas-
ant uprising awaited his unpleasant end.
Just before you enter the third gate, a footpath leads 500m south to an out-of-sight
Orthodox church (Biserica Memorială Sfânta Treime) . The wooden church, brought to
Alba Iulia in 1990 from Maramureş, stands on the site of a former Metropolitan cathedral
built by Mihai Viteazul in 1597 and destroyed by the Habsburgs in 1713.
Inside the gates, about 200m west in a park, is the Soviet-style 22.5m Costozza monu-
ment, which commemorates the soldiers and officers of the 50th infantry regiment of Alba
Iulia, who were killed while fighting in the Habsburg army against Italy in the battle of
Costozza in 1866.
Just west is the Unification Hall (Sala Unirii; 1900), built as a military casino. In this
hall the act of unification between Romania and Transylvania was signed during the Great
Assembly of 1 December 1918.
Facing the hall from the south is a large equestrian statue of Mihai Viteazul
Offline map Google map (Michael the Brave) , ruler of Romania from 1593 to 1601. On 1
November 1599 he visited Alba Iulia to celebrate the unification of Wallachia, Moldavia
and Transylvania, a union that crumbled after his assassination in 1601. Behind the statue
is the Princely Court, former residence of the princes of Transylvania, which was built in
several stages from the 16th century onwards.
Immediately west is the 18th-century Roman Catholic Cathedral Offline map
Google map , built on the site of a Romanesque church destroyed during the Tartar invasion
of 1241. Many famous Transylvanian princes are buried here.
Inside the former Babylon building (1851) is the impressive Unification Museum
Offline map Google map (Muzeul Unirii; 0258-813 300; adult/child 10/5 lei;
10am-7pm Tue-Sun summer, to 5pm Tue-Sun winter) , one of Romania's most interesting
museums. Many Roman sculptures, votives and pillars found in the area are subtitled in
English. Don't miss the section devoted to the peasant revolutionaries Cloşca, Crişan and
Horea. The highlight is a replica of the wheel used to crush Cloşca and Horea to death in
1785 (Crişan killed himself in prison before he could be tortured to death).
Near the western entrance of the citadel, the highly impressive Orthodox Cathedral
Offline map Google map (originally known as the 'Church of the Coronation') was built in
1921-22 and is designed in the shape of a Greek circumscribed cross, and surrounded by
a wall of decorative colonnades enclosing its peaceful gardens within. A 58m-tall bell
tower marks the main entrance to the complex.
There are English and French information panels placed throughout the citadel, making
it easy to delve into its history without a guide.