The Butchers’ Tower is located on the western side of the Sighișoara citadel between the Coopers’ Tower and the Rope-Makers’ Tower, and flanks the “Törle” gate from the south. The Tower has a small six-sided polygonal footprint and five floors. It was built as part of the first series of Sighișoara’s defensive towers and is attached to the city’s defensive wall. Fortunately, the structure was not affected by the fire of 1676 or by modern restorations, and thus retains many elements of its original appearance. The Butchers’ Tower is thus unique and is regarded as one of the most valuable towers within the citadel, a true “Lebendigen Museum” (living museum) as described by Gernot Nussbächer.
The Butchers’ Tower was built gradually over several centuries: the crenellated wall during the 13th-14th centuries, the Tower itself during the first half of the 15th century (according to dendrochronological dating of the floor beams), the main roof and internal wooden structure at the top floor during the early 16th century, structural modifications to the roof in the late 18th century, and the raising of the Tower’s ground level in the early 20th century (which likely led to the removal of the flooring material between the ground and first floor). In the 17th century, the circular bastion in front of the Tower partially replaced a barbican that likely was already in use since the 16th century; the current wall above the bastion’s ground level was rebuilt after 1950.
The Tower and Bastion were under the care of the Butchers’ Guild. A 1680 inventory notes that the tower contained “five arquebuses, including a beautiful hook gun (with two barrels), a musket, several bullets, and a quintal of gunpowder.” After the role of fortifications faded – a late-18th century painting shows the bastion overrun by vegetation – the Tower was no longer maintained. Portions of the floors and internal stairs disappeared over time, while the oak beams and patrol path access door remained.
The architectural work at the Butcher’s Tower and Bastion was preceded by a bold vision of the site as a flexible, protected, and inspiring cultural space for the people of Sighișoara and beyond. Unfortunately, although Sighişoara is inscribed in UNESCO’s list of global world heritage sites, of the 14 defensive towers that originally comprised the citadel’s medieval fortification, fewer than four of the 9 preserved towers are open to the public. This bold vision sees the Tower and Bastion being reintegrated into Sighișoara’s social fabric. The project’s primary goal was to restore vertical mobility within the Tower by rebuilding stairs and floors, lowering the access level to the initial stone entryway, restoring (albeit temporarily blocking) the patrol path access door (due to the current absence of the patrol path itself), organizing a small exhibition inside the tower, and setting up the Bastion to allow for outdoor cultural events.
The guiding question behind this architectural project was how to achieve the restoration of a building while enhancing story-telling across the centuries. A careful inventory of the site’s different building stages is clearly denoted by lights and metallic signage, which invite visitors to actively explore the Tower’s history (e.g., by noting the visibility of the crenellations in the first defensive wall from both inside and outside the structure, the enlarging of firing slits to enable usage of firearms, the usage of clay flooring to prevent fires, the carpenters’ marks inscribed in wooden elements to quicken their assembly, the traces of past fires, etc.). The signage thoughtfully interweaves three narratives: the construction of the Butcher’s Tower (stages, building materials, and architectural elements), the life of the citadel (defensive and everyday objects), and Transylvanian and European history. Visitors’ encounters with the Tower’s history are complemented by strategically placed multimedia equipment, offering enriching visual aids and soundscapes.
Our project prioritizes the conservation of as much of the site’s historical substance as possible by consistently applying contemporary restoration techniques. Missing elements, or those which were never present but are essential for the monument’s newfound cultural role, are discretely set apart to further highlight the preservation of original materials: lost floor joists were reconstructed from two layers of planks arranged at 45⁰ angles (a structural reinforcement measure); where supporting beams were lost, new beams made of two slightly spaced planks were inserted into existing wall pockets; the stairs were rebuilt in their original position according to details of the staircase documented by the 1950 survey (the staircase with massive, radially-cracked oak steps became a staircase with perfectly-cut equilateral triangle steps); and the auxiliary structure at ground level (comprising the access platform and restroom) was inserted like a piece of furniture, independent and easily removeable from the Tower’s structure.
This architecture project aims to recognize and enhance the rugged beauty of Sighişoara’s fortifications by adding contemporary elements and details. We found that the alchemy between old and new materials, specifically their capacity to mutually enhance each other, to be a fascinating aspect of working with historical buildings.
ABRUPTARHITECTURA
Cristina Constantin & Cosmin Pavel
Photographs: Vlad Pătru