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The medieval Saxons, with an eye for trade and invasion routes, sited their largest settlements within a day's journey of the Carpathian passes. BRASOV (Kronstadt to the Saxons and Brasso to the Hungarians) was one of the best placed and grew prosperous and fortified as a result, and for many centuries the Saxons there constituted an elite whose economic power long outlasted its feudal privileges. During the 1960s, the Communist regime attempted to create its own skilled working class in the city, and to this end it brought thousands of Moldavian villagers to Brasov, where they were drafted into the new factories and given modern housing. When the economy began collapsing in the 1980s, raised production quotas and cuts in pay at the Red Flag and Tractorul factories led to the riots of November 15, 1987 , during which the Party offices were ransacked and a Militia officer was reportedly killed. Order was restored, but local pride in the rebellion survived, and in December 1989 there was again fighting here. Bullet holes remain as a memorial all over the facade of the university buildings at the east end of Strada Republicii, opposite the graves of some of those killed in the revolution. It seems that most of the casualties here were the victims of "friendly fire". There are two parts to Brasov: the largely Baroque old town coiled beneath Mount Tampa and Mount Postavaru, and the surrounding sprawl of apartment blocks and factories. Old Brasov - whose Schei quarter, Black Church and medieval ramparts provide a backdrop for the town's colourful Pageant of the Juni - is well worth a day's exploration; and the town's proximity to the alpine resort of Poiana Brasov , the fortified Saxon churches of Harman and Prejmer, and "Dracula's Castle" at Bran, make Brasov an excellent base. The best views of the old town are from the forested heights of Mount Tampa (967m) to the south, accessible by cable car (Tues-Sun 9.30am-9pm) or by the various paths which wind up to the summit.
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