Union Square (Piața Unirii) is the historic central square of Râșnov, lying at the foot of the fortress hill in the old town. The square is surrounded by an ensemble of 18th- and 19th-century buildings and remains one of the clearest places to see the traditional urban character of the former Saxon settlement.
For centuries this was the town’s main marketplace, known as the Marktplatz, where commercial and civic life gathered beneath Râșnov Fortress. The buildings around it changed considerably during the 19th century, especially between about 1860 and 1910, when many of the simpler stone houses were replaced or remodeled as more substantial urban residences with increasingly decorative façades.
That development is still visible in the varied row of houses surrounding the square, where different rooflines, window surrounds and ornamental details reflect several phases of rebuilding rather than a single architectural plan. Among the more imposing buildings is the former communal hotel, later used as the Râșnov House of Culture, while the tower of the Evangelical Church rises just beyond the square.
The center of Union Square is laid out as a small public garden with paths, benches and mature trees, giving the historic square a more relaxed character than a conventional paved town plaza. From here, the fortress hill rises immediately above the old center, and the lower station of the Râșnov Fortress Funicular is located just behind the buildings on the southern side of the square.
