Medias and its surroundings are even today recognized as oenological landmark, given its fame for the old Tarnava wines, symbol on the flag of the town. The area was named in the old times “The country of wines” or “Weinland” – it appears under this name on the map of the humanist Johannes Honterus (in the XVIth century).
If you want to visit the town, here are the most beautiful objectives which we recommend:
1. The medieval towers. The 8 towers of the medieval citadel: The Tower of Bells, Tailors Tower, Goldsmiths Tower, The Forkesch Tower, the Rope markers´ Tower, Marie´s Tower, Wheelssmiths Tower, Steingasser Tower. All hide a story and wait for you to discover their secrets.
2. The Piarist School. Is the imposing building in which the school led by the Piarist orders, backing canonical and laical teaching, carried out its activity until 1790.
3. The House of Hann. It was in the possession of the mayor since 1617. The building is one of the oldest in the Citadel of Medias. Just like the other houses from the same epoch, this house is also separated by arched gangs.
4. The school in the castle. Closely displayed at first to the Ropemarkers Tower, the school building was first documented in the year 1586. Under a continuous development, the population density increased in the following epoch, and the degradation in time of the school lead to the renovation and extension of the building in 1713. Given this, the School Tower is demolished in order to obtain rooms destined for education. This building maintains, even today, the same destination, just like any other buildings in the castle. The Hermann Oberth school has its headquarters here.
5. Saint Margaret fortified church holds a valuable set of Gothic frescoes, and the tower has a clock that indicates the phases of the moon. This church is important for here the Ruler of the Wallachian Country, Vlad the Impaler, was locked in 1476, due to a conflict with Matei Corvin. Prince Stephan Bathory was elected king of Poland here.
6. The covered staircase and the dungeon. In the year 1803, due to the renovation and modernization of the old townhall, a new access to the castle, called the Covered staircase, was built. A dungeon was built inside this staircase. Since then, this has also been known as the Staircase of the dungeon. Thus, it has become the second access point to the citadel, assuring the connection between the castele and King Ferdinand Square.
7. The Franciscan architectural complex, includes the Franciscan chruch and monastery, built by the Franciscan Order around the year 1444. The complex houses exibits of great value: the treasure from Seica Mica, the treasure from Panade, various popular pottery.
8. Rosenauer House. Built in 1621, the builing underwent several important changes during the XVIIIth century, when it received the Baroque appearance. In the nineteenth century, the house was inhabited by the Rosenauer family, well-known for its business with wines. The facade overlooking the square, present baroque borders, which frame the windows, thus conferring an elegant and sober aspect to the building. There are several tunnels and dungeons next to the castle, which implies that the house was used to escape when the fortress was occupied.
9. Schuller House. The building located in the north-eastern part of the central square, is one of ther most important constructions in Transylvania. The Schuller House was documented in the year 1588, being the property of Johaness Schuller, the Mayor of Medias at that time. In the older chronicles, it was mentioned long before 1588. Along the time, the Schuller House was used as an inn, pub and brewery.
10. The old centre appers as an open air museum. The medieval monuments from the castle square are unique in Transylvania.
11. The Municipal Museum Medias is located in the former building of a Fransciscan monastery dating from the fifteenth century and has three basic units: history, ethnography-art and natural sciences. The heritage of the museum is made up of more than 15.000 exhibits of arhchaeological pottery, silver products from the Dacian treasures discovered in Seica Mare and Medias, objects, flags, seals and boxes that belonged to the guilds from Medias, pieces of Romanian, German and Hungarian popular costumes, specific to the area of Tarnava Mare, as well as collections of old books ans paitings. Of special value is also the silver seal of the “Medias fair” dating from the year 1448, a wooden statue, considered as one of the oldest Gothic wooden statues, probably dating from the beginning of the eighteenth century, discovered at the last level of the Trumpet Tower, also known as the Pitz Thurm (Peter from the Tower).
12. The Stephen Ludwig Roth Memorial House is situated in the centre of the town. It presents a series of original furniture pieces, fotographs, documents, texts and cutting ups that evoke the activity and the context of the epoch in which the historian, thinker and Transylvanian forty-eighter revolutionary, Stephan Ludwig Roth (1796-1849) lived.
