Cluj-Napoca is the fourth-most populous city in Romania. It is the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (445 kilometres (277 miles)), Budapest (461 km (286 mi)) and Belgrade (483 km (300 mi)). Located in the Someșul Mic river valley, the city is considered the unofficial capital to the historical province of Transylvania. From 1790 to 1848 and from 1861 to 1867, it was the official capital of the Grand Principality of Transylvania.
The city spreads out from St. Michael’s Church in Unirii Square, built in the 14th century and named after the Archangel Michael, the patron saint of Cluj-Napoca. The boundaries of the municipality contain an area of 179.52 square kilometres (69.31 sq mi).
Cluj-Napoca experienced a decade of decline during the 1990s, its international reputation suffering from the policies of its mayor at the time, Gheorghe Funar. Today, the city is one of the most important academic, cultural, industrial and business centres in Romania. Among other institutions, it hosts the country’s largest university, Babeș-Bolyai University, with its botanical garden; nationally renowned cultural institutions; as well as the largest Romanian-owned commercial bank.
Landmarks
Cluj-Napoca has a number of landmark buildings and monuments. One of those is the Saint Michael’s Church in Unirii Square, built at the end of the 14th century in the Gothic style of that period. It was only in the 19th century that the Neo-Gothic tower of the church was erected; it remains the tallest church tower in Romania to this day.
In front of the church is the equestrian statue of Matthias Corvinus, erected in honour of the locally born King of Hungary. The Orthodox Church’s equivalent to St. Michael’s Church is the Orthodox Cathedral on Avram Iancu Square, built in the interwar era. The Romanian Greek-Catholic Church also has a cathedral in Cluj-Napoca, Transfiguration Cathedral.
Another landmark of Cluj-Napoca is the Palace of Justice, built between 1898 and 1902, and designed by architect Gyula Wagner in an eclectic style.[183] This building is part of an ensemble erected in Avram Iancu Square that also includes the National Theatre, the Palace of Căile Ferate Române, the Palace of the Prefecture, the Palace of Finance and the Palace of the Orthodox Metropolis. An important eclectic ensemble is Iuliu Maniu Street, featuring symmetrical buildings on either side, after the urbanistic trend of Georges-Eugène Haussmann.
A highlight of the city is the botanical garden, situated in the vicinity of the centre. Beside this garden, Cluj-Napoca is also home to some large parks, the most notable being the Central Park with the Chios Casino and a large statuary ensemble. Many of the city’s notable figures are buried in Hajongard Cemetery, which covers 14 hectares (35 acres).
As an important cultural centre, Cluj-Napoca has many theatres and museums. The latter include the National Museum of Transylvanian History, the Ethnographic Museum, the Cluj-Napoca Art Museum, the Pharmacy Museum, the Water Museum and the museums of Babeș-Bolyai University—the University Museum, the Museum of Mineralogy, the Museum of Paleontology and Stratigraphy, the Museum of Speleology, the Botanical Museum and the Zoological Museum.
