Welcome to Cluj-Napoca in
County Cluj, part of the Transilvania region of Romania! Discover historic Cluj and surrounding villages, and understand the rich Transilvania
culture unfolding in historic county Cluj. Rest Romania will help you find the perfect hotel or B&B in our Cluj-Napoca
lodging, B&B (bed and breakfast) in a little town further out in Cluj.
Check out your transportation options in Cluj-Napoca in County Cluj, part of
the region of Transilvania in Romania. Find your accommodation options in
either Cluj-Napoca or Cluj, with fun things to do from
eoc-tourism, to nearby hiking and even skiing.
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The city is very pleasant and is certainly a great experience for
those who want to see urban Transylvanian life at its best.
Along with fine dining, excellent cultural
activities, a wonderful historical legacy and a great atmosphere, the
city will certainly not disappoint those who add it to their travel
itinerary.
What's more is the fact that Cluj (as it's
called for short) is so easy to access and get around.
Cluj-Napoca as the seat of County Cluj, is one of the most important
academic, cultural and industrial centres in Romania.
The city is located in northwestern Romania, and is approximately
330 km northwest of Bucharest, in the Someşul Mic valley. The name
Cluj comes from "Castrum Clus", first used in the 12th century to
designate this medieval citadel.
You should see Matthias Corvinus' mounted statue and the old
St. Michael's Church in the Union Square - right in the middle
of the city.
The area around the Union Square is a must see for the
visitor, with the Teleki and Banffy Palaces (the former now
houses the National Art Museum and a splendid summer terrace),
the Franciscan Monastery, the first Unitarian Church in the
world, the Piarist Churches, the Mirror Street (a unique
architectural accomplishment dating back to the late 1800s) and
Matthias Corvinus' place of birth, a former 15th Century hotel
now home to the Visual Arts Academy.
Smaller streets around the Square can take you into splendid
inner courts, old houses and isolated Churches.
The
Tailors' Bastion and the corresponding section of the
medieval wall is very well preserved, South-East of the Union
Square.
The Museum Square, a 2 minute walk from the Union Square, is
home to the Franciscan Monastery.
The monastery is a combination of baroque and gothic
architecture dating back to the 14th Century. The
Transylvanian History Museum and the old Obelisk of the City,
offered to the City as acknowledgement of its statute by the
Austrian Emperor Franz Ferdinand in the 19th Century. You can
have a nice coffee right by the Obelisk, as during daytime the
surrounding clubs and cafes move out of their inside locations
into cool, relaxing terraces.
The University Round-Up
Cluj gathers some of the nation's best museologists in a series
of musuems with collections and exhibits second only to those in the
national capital, Bucharest.
The Babeş-Bolyai University buildings are actually located all
over Cluj, and maintains several different dormitories for students
as well such as the Haşdeu complex.
The iconic and beautiful Lucian Blaga University Library is
located in the city centre. As the largest university in Romania
it's 50,000 students attend in Cluj and 17 other cities across
Transylvania in 98 specialisations in Romanian, 52 in Hungarian, 13
in German, and 4 in English.
The ethnic Romanian researcher and medical man Victor Babeş and
the Hungarian mathematician Jįnos Bolyai, both Transylvanians give
the university it's modern name.
The
Zoological Museum
One of the more impressive and surprising collections amongst
the Babeş-Bolyai University museums, the zoological museum in Cluj
is a lot older than you might think!
Collection across the globe started for this museum as early as
1818, when the Romanian University was founded at Cluj, with the
Zoological Museum dedicated in 1859. The Romanian
Trans-African Expedition in 1971 added significantly to the museum's
specimen count.
Now nearly 200 years later, this unique zoological museum hosts
almost a million specimens in its collection, across the seven
public rooms of the main exhibition, its scientific research
collection, and the museum reserves.
In a constant state of rehabilitation and renewal, you can see
newer dioramas displaying animals in their natural habitats, and all
the dioramas being constantly updated.
The museum serves both the students of the university, and the
wider community as well with it's interesting and informative museum
panels, describing the more fascinating elements of the animal
kingdom.
In addition to the actual items on display, you really must
admire the beautiful craftsmanship and quality of woods used in the
actual cabinets and display structures, many of which date from 50
years ago or more, and all custom-designed to display their contents
expertly and in the best light.
Downstairs in the
Biology Building, 9am - 3pm; Sat 10am - 2pm, +40 (264) 595 739
(x121)
The University Museum
This museum for the most part outlines the history of the
Babeş-Bolyai University, as well as over 420 years of higher
education in general in Cluj, since the Jesuits set up their first
College in Cluj.
With key exhibits on famous students and teachers, some of
the exhibits show highlights of Transylvanian education through the
decades. With over 750 original items, all the trappings of
university life is represented.
Of somewhat wider interest, the University Museum also
highlights the lifetime contributions of several of Transylania's
more notable intellectuals including Lucian Blaga, Emil Racoviţă,
Augustin Maior, Hermann Oberth and many others.
The collection stretches across five rooms containing photos,
prints, and some rather beautiful interbellum exhibits showing
academic life in it's heydey between the two world wars.
Plan on about an hour for taking it all in. In
the main museum area on Mihail Kogalniceanu street. 1 RON, Weekdays
9:30am -1:30pm, contact Dr. Ana-Maria Stan on +40 (264) 591 471, or
e-mail the doctor here
A Gem of a Museum
If your planned day of hiking in the Apuşeni mountains, or
walking around the town does become a bit rainy or overcast, the
"Babeş-Bolyai" Mineralogical Museum is a fabulous way to spend the
midday indoors!
Established just after the First World War, the museum inherited
quite a few collections from the former Austrian owners of
Transilvania (from the Franz Joszef university). Today's collection
grew organically (or in organically, more accurately), through the
1920s and 1930s, as it became known as a world class museum for
gemstones, minerals, as well as crystallographic and petrographic
samples.
With over 25,000 pieces, the museum is laid out with a regional
collection as well as a systematic collection, catalogued according
to mineral species.
You can also delight in a few oddities, such as
rare minerals, meteorites, some truly beautiful huge crystals and of
quartz, gypsum, aragonite, and pyrites. Keep an eye out for a
rotating collections which come in regularly from other
mineralogical museums around Romania and Europe.
A glittering collection of over 3000 Romanian gemstones, and
another few hundred of cut gems, brings the important local story of
Romania's mineral heritage onto the centre stage.
A petrographic collection also brings in a thousand or so rock
samples from all over Europe, and you'll have to walk quickly
through the radioactive collection, which displays about 200 samples
of the isotope rich rock.
Daily 11am - 4pm, closed Mondays and parts of
August. 1.5 RON/adult
+40 (264) 405 300 ext. 5121, Fax +40 (264) 591 906
or Email the Museum here
As with many other Romanian cities, train is the easiest way to
reach Cluj Bucharest. There are train connections to most Romanian
cities, including fast InterCity connections to Oradea, Arad, Timisoara,
Brasov, Sighisoara, Ploiesti and Bucharest.
By
plane
The International Someşeni Airport of Cluj-Napoca has direct
flights between Cluj and:
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All of the phone numbers in
Cluj-Napoca start with (264) or (364), depending on whether
the service is through the old state-run operator RomTelecom, or
from one of the newer entrants into the market in Romania.
Dialling internationally from outside Romania into
anywhere in County Cluj, you must
remove any leading zero from the county code portion of the phone
number, so that (0264) becomes (264). Dialling a mobile
number, you do the same, dropping the zero from the (07XX) part of
the number, to make it (7XX). Both landlines and mobiles
have 6 digits following the initial county code.
Super cool Cluj lives up it's name with the fun and funky
Flowers Tea House 1911, offering free wi-fi to patrons in the heart
of where it's at in Unification Square (Piaţa
Unirii 24). Check out the website from Cyan Advertising for
more info.
As there is no Pizza Hut in Cluj-Napoca as yet, you'll have to
settle for a slice at one of the two Pizzeria Montana locations in
Cluj, which offer free wireless and typically excellent Romanian
takes on pizza. Contact the Calea Bucuresti Nr. 79
location on +40 (264) 411 558, and the Manastur restaurant at 12
Izlazului Street can be reached at +40 (264) 421 362.
Wi-Fi Hotels (All Free)
Please see our
Lodging
section for more information and contact details for the below
Clujean accommodation offering wireless hotspots:
Hotel Confort, Calea Turzii Nr.
48
Hotel Melody, Str. Unirii Nr 29
Hotel Premier, Str. Donath
Pensiune Dorobanti, Calea
Dorobantilor Nr. 26
Vila Rosa - Hotel, Frunzisului
Nr. 2-4
Other Online Offerings
PF Oproiu Business Centre on Str. Mehedinti Nr. 47-49, Bl. C11,
Ap. 78
Know of a property or some information we missed?
Please Rest Romania is Romania's Biggest Tourism Website for Accommodation, Lodging and great Reviews and Guides!
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Our hotel is located in the nearbys of the central area of the city, in a quiet location, away from daily urban rush.
Vila Rosa Hotel is the genuine oasis of the tranquility you need. Each of the the guest rooms has comfortable furniture, private bathroom, color TV and cable television, card technology access.
Also, our Allegria Restaurant welcomes you with its delicious international dishes and cuisine.
Welcome to JUNIOR Lodging House!
Situated in the near proximity of city center, airoport and railway station, three star JUNIOR Lodging House offers its guests a wide variety of high quality services and facilities.
We kindly invite you to spend unique moments in the confort of our modern rooms, which will make you fell at home.
Our house will provide you with double and three bed rooms, to suit all your demands.
Our restaurant takes you into an intimate and elegant atmosphere, the ideal place for enjoying a wide range of fine foods and Romanian traditional meals.
Ranging from traditional Romanian, Hungarian and Transylvanian (a
combination of the previous two) to Italian (very good Italian food),
Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Middle Eastern, American and International
Cuisine, the city can offer great dining for all tastes.
Fancy restaurants are available as well as local fast food shops and
a few international chains (McDonald's, Pizza Hut).
Recommended Cluj Restaurants:
Romanian/Transylvanian:
Roata (near the City Hall), Casa Ardeleana (in the Sora Shopping
Center), Ciuleandra (inside the Best Western Topaz Hotel)
Maestro (best in town) ,Pizza Y, Casa Vikingilor (huge portions),
Intim, Escorial, Hubertus, Lugano, Marco Polo (in the City Plaza Hotel),
Aroma (on the Feleacu hill - great view), Panoramic (on the Cetatuia -
great view from above of the downtown), Bolero, Fair Play, Roland Garros,
Topaz, Vila Tusa, Marty Caffe
Cluj has a vibrant night life, guaranteed by the over 60000 college students
living here. there are bars, cafes, clubs for all preferences and budgets.
Night Life Top Picks:
Recommended cafes:
Vanilla, Diesel, Fullton Caffe and Club, River Caffe, Bellini
Caffe, Imperial Caffe, Crema, Il Caffe del Corso, Il Caffe, Bolero, Mozart Cafe,
Quo Vadis, Jazz, Cafe Bulgakov, Flowers Tea House (WiFi)
This website is a
general tourist guide, designed to help English-speaking tourists
understand Romania, and as such, provides historical
information for the interest of our traveller readers. History
can be a contentious issue, and we welcome input where readers think
clarification or correction is advisable. Please
e-mail us here
if you have questions or comments about anything in this history
section.
Early Cluj
The word "Clus" means "closed" in Latin, and is related
to the hills that surround the city.
The city was officially called Kolozsvįr from about 1600 to 1918.
Then the city was known as Cluj until 1974, when the name was changed to
its current form, in order to reflect both its medieval and antique
names.
The capital of Transylvania reaches as far back as prehistoric
times.
Roman Dacia, c. 130AD
From the Olt River through the Pannonian
Plains, including the Carpathian basin to north of the Danube
After the Roman Empire conquered Dacia in the beginning of the 2nd
century, Trajan established a legion base known as Napoca. Hadrian
raised Napoca to the status of a municipium, naming it Municipium Aelium
Hadrianum Napoca.
The locality was later raised to the status of a colonia, probably during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Napoca became a
provincial capital of Provincia Porolissensis and the seat of a
procurator. However, during the Migrations Period Napoca was overrun and
destroyed.
King Stephen V of Hungary encouraged the Transylvanian Saxons to
colonize near the Roman city of Napoca in 1272.
Their settlement received the German name Klausenburg, from the old
word Klause meaning "mountain pass." It has been suggested that the
Romanian name Cluj may be derived from Klause as well, or from the Latin
name Castrum clus, the name by which the city first appeared in written
documents, around 1170 (clusum (Lat.) = "closed", referring to the city
being surrounded by hills). The city of Cluj / Klausenburg was also
known as Kolozsvįr by the Magyars who lived there.
In 1270 Cluj was given urban privileges by Stephen V and began to
grow quickly: the Saint Michael Church was built under King Sigismund.
Cluj became a free city in 1405.
By this time the number of Saxon and
Hungarian inhabitants was equal, and King Matthias Corvinus (born in
Cluj in 1440) ordered that the chief judge should be Hungarian and Saxon
in turn.
In 1541 Cluj became part of the Principality of Transylvania.
Although Alba Iulia was the political capital for the princes of
Transylvania, Cluj was the main cultural and religious center for the
principality. Stephen Bathory founded a Jesuit academy in Cluj in 1581.
Between 1545 and 1570 large numbers of Saxons left the city due to the
introduction of Unitarian doctrines[citation needed], while Hungary's
wars with Ottoman Empire further reduced the German population. They
were largely replaced with Magyars, and the city became a center for
Hungarian nobility and intellectuals.
The first Hungarian newspaper appeared in Cluj in 1791, and the
first Hungarian theatrical company was established in 1792. In 1798 the
city was heavily damaged by a fire.
From 1790-1848 and 1861-1867, Cluj was the capital of the Grand
Principality of Transylvania and the seat of the Transylvanian diets.
Beginning in 1830, the city became the centre of the Hungarian national
movement in the principality. During the Revolutions of 1848, Cluj was
taken and garrisoned in December by Hungarians under the command of the
Polish general Józef Bem.
After the Ausgleich (compromise) which created Austria-Hungary in
1867, Cluj and Transylvania were integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary.
During this time Cluj was the second-largest city in the kingdom behind
Budapest, and was the seat of Kolozs county.
Cluj in the Kingdom of Romania
After the First World War Cluj became part of the Kingdom of
Romania, along with the rest of Transylvania.
Cluj in Northern Transilvania, 1941-1947
After the Vienna Awards of 1940, Cluj
became a border town with the Kingdom in Nazi Hungary
In 1940 Cluj was awarded to Hungary through the Second Vienna Award,
but Hungarian forces in the city were defeated by the Romanian and
Soviet armies in October 1944. Cluj was restored to Romania by the
Treaty of Paris in 1947.
Cluj had 16,763 Jews in 1941. While under Hungarian administration,
the Cluj Jews were ghettoized in 1944 under conditions of intense
overcrowding and practically no facilities. Liquidation of the ghetto
occurred through six deportations to Auschwitz between May and June
1944.
Despite facing severe sanctions from the Horthy government, many
Jews have been helped during those times by Romanian peasants of
neighbouring villages to cross the border to the Romanian Kingdom.
Thus,
they succeeded to flee the Holocaust in Europe by ship, from the Black
Sea port of Constanta. Hungarians remained the majority of the city's
population until the 1950s.
According to the 1966 Census, of 185,663 Cluj inhabitants, 56% were
Romanians and 41% Hungarians. Until 1974 the official Romanian name of
the city was Cluj. It was renamed to Cluj-Napoca by the Communist
government to recognize it as the site of the Roman colony
Napoca. Some believe that this was done to slight the Hungarian
community by affirming that the ethnic Romanian community is descended
from the Dacians colonized by the Romansa fact disputed by some
Hungarian theories.
Soon after the democratic revolution in 1989 came the twelve-year
mayorship of the ex-communist ultra-nationalist politician Gheorghe
Funar.
His tenure was marked by strong Romanian national ideas, perceived
by some as anti-Hungarian sentiments. A number of public art projects
were undertaken by the city with the aim of highlighting Romanian
symbols of the city, most of them perceived as aiming to obscure the
city's Hungarian ancestry.
In June 2004 Gheorghe Funar was voted out of
office, coming in third in the first round of voting. He was replaced by
Emil Boc of the Democratic Party, who began working with Hungarians to
restore good ethnic relations in the city.
In 1994 and in 2000, Cluj-Napoca hosted the Central European
Olympiad in Informatics (CEOI). It thus made Romania not only the first
country to have hosted the CEOI, but also the first country to have
hosted it a second time.
The city is known in Hasidic Jewish history for the founding of the
Sanz-Klausenburg dynasty.
From the Middle Ages onwards, the city of Cluj has been a
multicultural city with a diverse cultural and religious life.
As of 2002 the city's population was 318,027 (ranked third in
Romania after the capital Bucharest and Iaşi), of which there were about
80% ethnic Romanians and 19% Hungarians (down from 80% in 1910 and 50%
in 1956), with 1% Roma, 0.23% Germans and 0.06% Jews.
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