Forkesch Tower, Mediaș, Guide du visiteur et quoi faire à proximité

Forkesch Tower, also called the Goldsmiths' Tower, is a late medieval defensive tower in Mediaș, a Transylvanian Saxon town in central Romania. It belongs to the town's old fortifications and shows how Mediaș protected itself in the decades around 1500, when each guild looked after its own stretch of defence.

The story behind it

The tower was built between 1494 and 1534 and rose to three storeys. Its name points to the goldsmiths, the craft guild linked with it, which is why it is often called the Goldsmiths' Tower. In towns like Mediaș, guilds were responsible for the upkeep and defence of particular towers and wall sections.

It was built to be used, not just admired. The roof is a pyramid, and beneath it a balcony-like gallery gave guards a place to watch over the approaches to the town. Narrow openings in the walls allowed defenders to fire out while staying protected behind the masonry.

What to look for

• The pyramid-shaped roof, and the projecting gallery just below it where guards once kept watch.
• The narrow slits in the walls, built so defenders could fire out while exposing as little of themselves as possible.
• The three-storey height, which shows how the tower worked as a vertical lookout as well as a strongpoint.
• The way the tower sits in the street and the old town fabric around it, a reminder that the defences were once part of everyday town life.

Tips for your visit

• Allow ten to fifteen minutes for the tower itself, longer if you combine it with a wider walk through the old town of Mediaș.
• Check whether the interior is open to visitors before you go, as access can change. The exterior is the main draw and can be seen from the street.
• Soft morning or late afternoon light shows the stonework and roofline best, and the streets are usually quieter then.
• The tower is close to the other medieval sights of Mediaș, so it fits easily into a slow stroll through the historic centre.

See it on a quest

The quest Medias - Mysteries from the Fortress of Light - is it a masonic temple? passes this tower as one stop on a longer walk through the area. You reach it on foot, the app tells you about the place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you. You can start whenever you like, with no guide and no group to join, and one ticket covers the whole group.