Last weekend I had the pleasure and the occasion to do The Night of Museums in Mediaș and visit six venues among which the Turnul Pietrarilor or the Steingässer Tower. The tower is usually not open, they opened it with this occasion, so I had to use the opportunity and visit both the tower and the exhibition as well.
Mediaș has a few towers, part of the fortress wall surrounding the medieval city center, of which I'm going to write in details another time. Today I'd like to share with you what the tower looks like both outside and inside and show you what the exhibition had to offer visitors.
The tower is very close to the historical city center, it's in a walking distance, 3 minutes from the St. Margaret Church and it's hard to miss.
Built between 1494 and 1534 for the defense of one of the three main gates of the city named after the "Cobbled Street - Steingasse" restored in 1745 following the damage caused in 1705 by the siege of the curuts.
This is a quote from the marble plate placed on the wall of the tower.
The tower has four levels if I'm not mistaken and going up to the top is quite an adventure. Walking up on the wooden stairs brought back some old memories, when I was in Utrecht, The Netherlands and had to walk 456 steps up and as many down.
Then the stairs disappeared and instead there was a ladder like something to go up on. I'm not afraid of heights and know how to go up and down on these ladders, so it was a piece of cake for me. The truth is, we're talking about a tower built 488 years ago, you can't expect an elevator to take you up. And that's the beauty of it. Authenticity is key in this business.
During the over 60 years of activity, the artist Emil Mureșan made over 20 monumental sculptures, in Mediaș and other localities in the country, 200 stone sculptures and modeling, restoration activities, scenography, advertising decorations, etc. After 1990, the artist's attention turned to new forms and techniques of artistic expression such as spider web (300 works) and metal (80 works), many of these artistic creations bringing him national and international fame. For the work "Bricul Mircea" Emil Mureșan became a member of the TV Book of Records, for the largest painting made of spider web. source of translation
I've never heard of the artist and was glad to have the occasion to know his works.
There were different sculptures on display, most of them made of stone, which is a special kind of art for me, precisely because I consider it to be the hardest. There were also drawings and other artworks from the same artist.
If I were to choose one artwork I would pick this one as it's interesting.
I'm not going to lie. I liked the exhibition as I always like to admire something I'm not capable of creating, but going up to the top of the tower was a bigger adventure for me, than visiting the exhibition.
This was the most fun part. This window is absolutely amazing and the view as well.
I don't know about you but I like towers and always looking for opportunities to visit as many as I can. Last weekend I was able to visit two, one of which, this one is not open to public all the time. Stay tuned to see the other one soon.
