Cluj county

CLUJ (Klausenburg)

Landmarks

Capital city of the Cluj county; situated in the north-eastern part of the Transylvanian Plateau, on the Somesul Mic riversides, at 345-360 m of altitude; one of the main citadels raised by the Saxons in the 13th c.; at present, the main economic centre of Transylvania, with old traditions of culture, research and education; 330.843 inhabitants (1995) Access by train - Bucharest (497 km), Baia Mare (194 km); by road - Oradea (136 km), Târgu Mures (107 km); by air - Someseni airport (9 km away)

Highlights

Medieval fortifications Tailors' Bastion (1629), Vauban style Fortress (18th c.) Palaces Banffy (1773-1785) late baroque and rococo styles; Teleki (1790-1795) neoclassic style Religious monuments St. Michael's Roman-Catholic Church (14th-15th centuries) murals from the 15th, 17th and 18th centuries; 80 m high belfry in the neo-Gothic style; vestry portal carved in the Renaissance style (1528); patron saint Archangel Michael carved on the main portal; outside - Mathias Corvinus' Equestrian Statue made by Jă¡nos Fadrusz (1902); Calvaria Church (built and restored in the 13th, 15th, 18th centuries in the Romanesque and Gothic styles; Reformed Church "Matia" (15th c.) financed by Mathias Corvinus; on its outside - St. George's Equestrian Statue (14th c.) Italian early Renaissance; copy of a similar statue in Prague; Calvinist Cock Church built in 1913 by K. Kă³os; Franciscan Friars' Monastery (15th c.) Gothic style; financed by ruling prince Iancu of Hunedoara; Orthodox Cathedral (1921-1933) neo-Byzantine style Stately buildings Mathias Corvinus' Birthplace (15th c.) oldest house in Cluj; Gothic and Renaissance styles; at present, Fine Arts Academy; The Redoubt (1810-1812), at present, Transylvania's Ethnographic Museum Empire style; seat of Transylvania's Diet; Town Hall (1843-1846) neo-Renaissance style; façade with the town's armorial bearings; Babes-Bolyai University (1843-1903); National Theatre and Opera (1905-1906) baroque and rococo styles; Magyar Theatre and the Opera (1912-1913) Green areas Botanical Gardens (1920) - stretches over 13 ha; the richest of the kind in Romania; European, American, Japanese, African, and Australian flora

Lodging and meals

Hotels Topaz 3*, Transilvania 3*, Continental 2*, Liliacul 2*, Napoca 2*, Onix 2*, Stadion 2*, Univers T Hotel 2*, Victoria 2* Villas Continental 4*, Casa Alba 4* Traditional cuisine restaurants Matei Corvin Other options for meals restaurants Casablanca, Ursus, Gambrinus, Somes (Unirii Sq.), Napoca 15, Dacia, Hubertus, "Boema" Summer Garden Agrotourism pensions in the villages of Baisoara, Belis, Bologa, Ciucea, Poieni, Sâncrai etc.