Trip to Baia Mare

Because of a project needed closing in Baia Mare, we set out on Tuesday for a long drive. It took about 9 hours to get there and arrived in the rain. I saw my first stork, sitting in his nest in the pouring rain. In the morning we set out to see the city before our appointment.

In 1469 King Matthias Corvin allowed the city of Baia Mare to build stone walls for defense purposes, walls that were guarded by seven towers. The Butchers' Bastion was part of this stone enclosure guarding the South Gate of the fortress, one of the four main entrance gates to the city. This bastion was built around 1547. The walls were built of stone and are one meter thick, circular in shape with two levels.

I would have loved to see these bells ring. The big bell in Stephen's Tower was ringing while we were there. To the right you see remnants of the old church and throughout the courtyard there are many windows on the ground to view the old foundations.

St. Stephen's Tower is 130 feet high and built in a neo-Gothic style. Eventually used for strategic observation and detecting fires, Stephen's Tower was initially a bell tower for Saint Stephen's church, built in 1347-76. The bell tower was added in 1446 on the church's southwest side.

If you look carefully you can see the foundations of the bell tower. We bought our tickets for a few dollars, but were delayed until the bell rang. It would have been deafening if we were inside.

Each step was carefully tread. This particular angular staircase was unique in the building, thank goodness.

The clock had rods protruding from the mechanism out to each face. It was fun to watch it work.

I loved walking around the ramparts, if you can call them that. It was a nice way to see the entire city. Baia Mare is much larger than I expected. We climbed as high as possible. The remainder of the tower can be seen through this piece of glass if you can avoid our reflections.