# Tailors' Tower (Students' Tower)

[Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) › [Transylvania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/transilvania) › [Alba County](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/alba) › [Sebeș](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/city/sebes)

> A defensive tower in Sebeș's town fortifications, built by the tailors' guild at the end of the 14th century and tied to the story of the student who survived the Ottoman siege of 1438.

**At a glance:** Fortresses and fortifications in Sebeș, Alba County. The visit takes 20 min. Information verified on 13 October 2026.

## Key facts

- **Opening hours:** No visiting hours are published; the tower is seen from outside. For access to the interior, ask at the "Ioan Raica" Municipal Museum or the town hall.
- **Visit duration:** 20 min — exterior only, estimate
- **With kids:** Yes — the tower's story, from the street
- **Parking:** Yes, paid — in town, on the street
- **Address:** Strada Traian, Sebeș, Alba County
- **Coordinates:** 45.95569, 23.57289
- **Website:** https://www.primariasebes.ro/
- **Wikipedia:** https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnul_Studentului_din_Sebe%C8%99
- **Wikidata:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28726075
- **Categories:** [Fortresses and fortifications](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetati-si-fortificatii), [Monuments and historic sites](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/monumente-si-situri-istorice)

## About Tailors' Tower (Students' Tower)

The Tailors' Tower, today better known as the Students' Tower, is part of Sebeș's medieval fortifications, in the south-eastern corner of the old citadel. It was built towards the end of the 14th century, and its upper levels were added in the following centuries. Its original name comes from the tailors' guild, which maintained and defended it, as in many other Transylvanian towns where each tower had a guild responsible for it.

Its second name dates from 1438, when Ottoman troops besieged and took the town. According to the historical tradition, a group of young men barricaded themselves in the tower to avoid capture, and the attackers set it on fire. Among the few survivors was a pupil of about 16 from the town's Dominican school, who was sold as a slave at Edirne and in Anatolia. Years later he reached Rome as Georgius de Hungaria and wrote a treatise on Turkish customs, which was widely read and reprinted long afterwards.

The tower has a rectangular plan, a ground floor and four levels, walls of river stone bound with mortar about a metre thick, narrow arrow slits and a pyramidal tile roof. It belongs to the town's fortification ensemble (14th–17th centuries), which is on the list of historic monuments of Alba County.

### What you can see

The tower is seen from outside, from Strada Traian, as a massive stone block surrounded by a fence and greenery, with arrow slits on each level and a weathervane at the top. Stretches of the curtain wall survive around it, and other towers of the ensemble stand nearby, including the octagonal tower and the semicircular one.

### Good to know

No visiting hours or public entrance to the interior were found. In 2022 the town hall and the "Ioan Raica" Municipal Museum submitted a restoration project under the PNRR (consolidation, architectural lighting, landscaping of the surroundings), but the press has not confirmed whether the project was funded or whether work has begun. Check with the museum or the town hall before making a special trip for the interior.

## Don't miss

- The stone tower with its pyramidal tile roof and arrow slits on every level.
- The story of the young men who barricaded themselves here in 1438 and of the surviving student who reached Rome.
- The surviving stretches of curtain wall around the tower.
- The other towers of Sebeș's fortifications nearby: the octagonal and the semicircular ones.

## Good to know before you go

### Getting there

**By car:** Sebeș is on the DN1 / E68, ~15 km from Alba Iulia, ~60 km from Sibiu and ~100 km from Deva; the A1 motorway passes close by. The tower is on Strada Traian, at the edge of the old centre, a few minutes' walk from the main square.

**Public transport:** Sebeș has a railway station on the Sibiu–Vințu de Jos–Alba Iulia line, with regional and InterRegio trains; from the station it is a walk or a short taxi ride to the centre.

### Where to park

Parking is on the streets around the centre, usually paid in the central zone. From the centre it is a few minutes' walk to the tower.

### Rules

The tower stands in an area with private properties and a fence around it: it is visited from the outside, from the street. There are no usual restrictions on photography from outside.

## Details

- **Construction period:** late 14th – 16th century
- **Founder:** the tailors' guild
- **Historical period:** Middle Ages

## Frequently asked questions about Tailors' Tower (Students' Tower)

**How long does a visit to Tailors' Tower (Students' Tower) take?**

A visit to Tailors' Tower (Students' Tower) takes about 20 min (exterior only, estimate).

**Can you visit Tailors' Tower (Students' Tower) with kids?**

Yes, Tailors' Tower (Students' Tower) is suitable for children (the tower's story, from the street).

**Where can I park at Tailors' Tower (Students' Tower)?**

There is paid parking at Tailors' Tower (Students' Tower) (in town, on the street). Parking is on the streets around the centre, usually paid in the central zone. From the centre it is a few minutes' walk to the tower.

**How do I get to Tailors' Tower (Students' Tower)?**

Tailors' Tower (Students' Tower) is located at Strada Traian, Sebeș, Alba County. By car: Sebeș is on the DN1 / E68, ~15 km from Alba Iulia, ~60 km from Sibiu and ~100 km from Deva; the A1 motorway passes close by. The tower is on Strada Traian, at the edge of the old centre, a few minutes' walk from the main square. Public transport: Sebeș has a railway station on the Sibiu–Vințu de Jos–Alba Iulia line, with regional and InterRegio trains; from the station it is a walk or a short taxi ride to the centre.

## Nearby attractions

- [Râpa Roșie](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/rapa-rosie) — National parks and reserves · Sebeș, AB · Free · 1 – 1½ hours · 4 km
  An 800 m wall of red clay and sandstone on the edge of Sebeș, carved by rain into columns, towers and earth pyramids, a badlands landscape rare in Romania.
- [Martinuzzi Castle](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/castelul-martinuzzi) — Castles and palaces · Vințu de Jos, AB · 20 min · 11 km
  The ruin of a Renaissance residence in Vințu de Jos, built by Cardinal Martinuzzi on the site of a Dominican monastery and remade as a fortress by Gabriel Bethlen; it is now fenced off and awaiting restoration.
- [Câlnic Fortress](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatea-calnic) — Fortresses and fortifications · Câlnic, AB · UNESCO World Heritage · Top 100 · 13 km
  A 13th-century count's residence, bought by the Saxon villagers in 1430 and turned into a peasant fortress: a Romanesque keep, two rings of walls and a chapel, in a valley near Sebeș.
- [Alba Carolina Fortress](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cetatea-alba-carolina) — Fortresses and fortifications · Alba Iulia, AB · Free · 2½ – 3 hours · Top 20 · 16 km
  Romania's largest bastion fortress, a seven-pointed star built by the Habsburgs in 1715–1738 at Alba Iulia; baroque gates, cathedrals, the Union Hall and a changing of the guard, all with free access.
- [St Michael's Cathedral](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/catedrala-romano-catolica-sfantul-mihail) — Monasteries and churches · Alba Iulia, AB · Free · 45 min · Top 100 · 16 km
  Romania's oldest and longest cathedral, Romanesque and Gothic, at the heart of the Alba Carolina Fortress; it holds the tomb of John Hunyadi and the first Renaissance chapel in Transylvania.
- [Coronation Cathedral](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/catedrala-incoronarii) — Monasteries and churches · Alba Iulia, AB · Free · 45 min · Top 100 · 16 km
  The Orthodox cathedral inside Alba Carolina Fortress, built in 1921–1922 for the coronation of Ferdinand and Marie as king and queen of Greater Romania, with a 58 m bell tower and royal portraits in fresco.

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Last updated: 13 October 2026
Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania