Grand Square (Piața Mare)

About Grand Square (Piața Mare)

At a glance: Monuments and historic sites in Sibiu, Sibiu County. Opening hours: daily open 24 hours. Ticket: Free. The visit takes 45 min. Information verified on 8 October 2026.

Piața Mare, the Grand Square, is the heart of Sibiu's upper town: a rectangle paved with stone and granite, about 142 metres long and 93 wide, closed in on every side by old houses with steep tiled roofs. The square took shape with the third ring of fortifications, completed in 1366, and documents from 1408 and 1411 mention it as the grain market, the "Kornmarkt". From the 16th century it became the centre of the walled town. The Saxons called it the Großer Ring, the "Great Ring"; between the wars it was King Ferdinand Square, the communists renamed it Republic Square, and in 1990 it got its old name back.

For centuries the town's assemblies, fairs and executions took place here. From 1550 the pillory, topped by a statue of Roland, stood on the east side, and in 1703 the Count of the Saxons, Johann Sachs von Harteneck, was beheaded here. A fountain is recorded as early as 1538. After 1948 the statue of St John of Nepomuk, which had dominated the square since 1734, was moved away and the middle of the square became a park with flowerbeds, removed only in the 1980s. The complete renovation of 2005, before Sibiu became European Capital of Culture in 2007, gave it today's paving, a fountain rebuilt after the 19th-century one and a new, smaller statue of Gheorghe Lazăr.

Good to know before you go

Getting there

By car: Sibiu is on the A1 motorway; Cluj-Napoca is ~175 km away (~2 hours on the A10 and A1), Brașov ~145 km on the DN1 (~2 hours 30 minutes) and Bucharest ~275 km on the DN7 through the Olt valley or on the A1 (~4 hours). The Grand Square is right in the middle of the upper town, in the historic centre, where car access is restricted; leave the car in one of the car parks around the centre and walk up.

Public transport: from Sibiu railway station to the Grand Square it is ~1.5 km, about a 20-minute walk through the lower town, or a few stops on the Tursib buses. From Sibiu airport (~5 km) there is a bus and taxis. The square is the starting point for the rest of the centre: the Small Square lies beyond the passage under the Council Tower, and Huet Square, with the Evangelical Cathedral, is a few steps to the north-west.

Where to park

You cannot park on the square: it is pedestrianised. The nearest public car parks are Cazarma 90, next to the pedestrianised Nicolae Bălcescu street, and the one on Piața Teatrului, both a 5–10 minute walk away; spaces on the streets around the historic centre are paid, at the machines, by SMS or in the app. In summer, at weekends and on festival days they fill up quickly.

Fees & discounts

The square is free, and entry to the Roman Catholic Holy Trinity Church is free. The Brukenthal Palace, the Blue House (exhibitions of the Brukenthal Museum) and the other museums nearby have separate tickets.

Facilities

City Hall tourist information centre, entered from the square · cafés, restaurants and terraces around the square · benches · pedestrianised square, paved with granite and stone