Romfilatelia, the company specialized in editing and trading Romanian postage stamps, joining important cultural events which take place in 2007 in Sibiu, European Capital of Culture, achieved a philatelic issue dedicated to this major event, of national significance: SIBIU - European Capital of Culture 2007. In May 2004, in the Assembly of the Culture Ministers from the EU member states, held for the first time in "a 25 format" in Brussels, the Council of Ministers appointed the cities of Luxemburg and Sibiu as European Capitals of Culture in 2007. Romania is the first Eastern European country to organize an European Capital of Culture, after the extension of the European Union.
With its paved streets and houses built in a Saxon style, the city of Sibiu (Hermannstadt), first attested in a document in 1191, is a true outdoor museum. At each step you meet history, with the tours of medieval fortress, with the monumentality of the churches or with the uniqueness and special value of the exponents in the biggest outdoor museum in Europe, Astra Museum. But Sibiu also offers national or world premieres such as: the first Romanian hospital (1292), the first country pharmacy (1494), the first paper mill (1534), the first lightning rod in South-East Europe (1795), the first homeopathic lab in the world (1797), the first Romanian Museum - Brukenthal (1817), The Liars Bridge (or The Bridge of Lies) (1859) - the oldest metal bridge in the country, the second city (after Timisoara) in Europe to introduce the electric tram (1904), the first Zoo in Romania, built in 1928.
On the stamp with the face value of Lei 0.30 we find the image of the Old City Hall - Altemberger House, after the name of the Mayor in whose era the building started to be erected, representing the most important Gothic civil architecture complex in Transylvania. The oldest part of the building is the tower-dwelling, whose construction Thomas Altemberger, mayor of the city between 1470 and 1491, started at end of the 15th century. "Knights", a detail from the altar of the fortified church (15th century) in Dupus, attested in a document in 1267, is also illustrated on the stamp.
On the stamp with the face value of Lei 0.50 we find two renowned travel spots, the Liars’ Bridge and the Council Tower. The oldest metal bridge (of cast iron) in Romania, i.e. the Reclined Bridge as it is called, was built in 1859, and the name of the Liars’ Bridge is connected to the lies told by people who set on the benches, gossiping near the bridge. The Council Tower represents the symbol of Sibiu and is for the first time mentioned in 1370, together with the building where the "city council" assembled, from which it got the name that it carries today. On the same stamp, a drawing which represents two 18th century Transylvania Saxons can also be found.
On the stamp with the face value of Lei 0.60 the Parochial Evangelic Church known under the name of the Evangelic Cathedral is depicted. The Gothic cathedral was built in the 14th century. 1371 is accurately known as the year of the initiation of the construction of the 73 m tower. Although a series of cultural golden silver vases are not accessible to the public, the pieces exhibited are highlighted through richness, originality, diversity and special artistic value. In the church there is also one of the most beautiful bronze baptismal fonts in the country, the work of the master Leonhardus from 1438. The organ was built in 1672. On the same stamp, a detail of the church painting is also reproduced, representing the Crucifixion in a 15th century painting.
On the stamp with the face value of Lei 0.70 a panoramic image of the Grand Square around 1780 is shown. This square is located in the historical center of Sibiu and was attested for the first time as a cereal market in a 1411 document. Across time, this place was used for meetings but also for public executions. The market has 142 m length and 93 m width, being one of the biggest in Transylvania. The south side was declared an architectural monument. On the same stamp we can find the image of peasants from Marginimea Sibiului in their traditional costumes, reproducing an 18th century drawing.
On the stamp with the face value of Lei 2.10 the Brukenthal Palace and the Saint Nepomuk Statue around 1935 are depicted. The Brukenthal Palace is one of the most important Baroque style monuments in Romania, built in stages, between 1778-1788, to serve the baron Samuel von Brukenthal as an official residence and to shelter its collections, which could be visited in 1790, three years before the opening of the Louvre Museum in Paris. The Baroque halls and the reception spaces preserve the original pieces of the Palace: the stoves in Rococo and Neoclassical style, the red silk and wallpapers painted in oriental style, the Murano glass chandeliers and 18th century Transylvanian furniture pieces. The Brukenthal Museum was officially opened in 1817, thus being the oldest Central European museum. The statue of Saint Martyr Johannes Nepomuk, built in 1734, rests nowadays in the yard of the parochial house of the Catholic Church from the Great Square. On the same stamp we find the portrait of the baron Samuel von Brukenthal (1721-1803), governor of Transylvania in the period 1777-1787.
On the stamp with the face value of Lei 5.60 a Panoramic image of Sibiu from 1790 - after a painting made by F. Neuhauser is depicted. Along with this, the Cisnadie Gate Tour is also illustrated on the stamp, in a J. Böbel watercolor.
On the philatelic souvenir sheet a reproduction of the Sibiu Fortress from the middle of the 17th century is illustrated.
The issue is completed by a set of 4 maxicards.
