Aiud Citadel

Aiud Citadel, in the centre of the town of Aiud, was built in two phases: the first in the 14th century, when it was a fortified church, and the second in the 16th-17th centuries, when the walls were extended and the present form was established. Archaeological research found beneath the citadel a Daco-Roman settlement of the 3rd century, overlaid by an earthwork fortification. The citadel has an irregular polygonal plan with an area of about 3,500 sq m, and its rough-stone walls are 1.2 m thick. Until the end of the 18th century it was surrounded by a water-filled moat, crossed by a drawbridge through the Gate Tower. The 9 towers were each assigned to one of the town's craft guilds: the Butchers', Tailors', Cobblers', Furriers', Coopers' and Potters' towers, the Kalendas Tower, the Locksmiths' and Blacksmiths' Tower and the Gate Tower. Each guild maintained and defended its tower, and the guild officers, the citadel's military commanders, were chosen from among the craftsmen. Inside the citadel stand the Reformed (Calvinist) Church (late Gothic, end of the 15th century), the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church (second half of the 19th century) and the Voivodal Palace, which belonged to Prince Gabriel Bethlen and now houses the Aiud History Museum. Aiud Citadel is a historical monument (LMI code AB-II-a-A-00172). Did you know that the Kalendas Tower, one of the citadel's nine towers, first belonged to the rope-makers' guild and was later given to the religious association "Kalendas" or "Holy Spirit", which gave it its name?