The country’s former Communist leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, ordered the demolition of historic neighborhoods around the country to make way for modern buildings. He left Sibiu’s old town mostly intact with parts of it in disrepair. That changed when people began buying houses and renovating them, often to rent them out to visitors.

Marius Grunca, who grew up in Sibiu, has worked in finance in Switzerland, but now spends most of his time in the old town. “I am fascinated by the heritage of this city and I try to present elements of its history in my apartments,” he said over coffee in Arhiva de Cafea si Ceai, a small coffeehouse off Great Square that offers a selection of homemade pastries.

In 2004 he bought his first property, a dilapidated apartment in a medieval building on Strada Faurului, standing in a row of houses with faded pastel colors. He spent years renovating the space and today he rents it out on Airbnb. The apartment has contemporary furnishings but its original wooden ceiling and chunky beams are exposed.

“I tried to change as little as I could,” he said of the renovation.

Today, the old town is brimming with activity all year round. In the fall, the day before holiday fairy lights were installed, workers were dismantling a large tent that housed a documentary film festival. Great Square and the Neighboring Small Square, in the Council Tower’s shadow, are lined with restaurants serving hearty Romanian and Central European dishes.