The City of Cluj-Napoca is a tempting destination for both business and leisure travelers, as it offers its visitors a wide panel of tourist attractions, among which we recommend you the following:
*The Botanical Garden
*The Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania
*The National Theatre and Romanian Opera
*The Taylors' Bastion
*The Reformed Church
*The "Adormirea Maicii Domnului" Romanian Orthodox Cathedral
*"Saint Michael" Roman-Catholic Cathedral
*Mathias Corvinus House
*"Babes-Bolyai" University
*Banffy Palace
Among the other places you should see when visiting Cluj-Napoca, we kindly recommend you not to neglect the following:
MUSEUMS
The National Museum of Transylvanian History
The National Art Museum
The "Romulus Vuia" Ethnographical Park
The Museum of the Romanian Language
The Museum of Romanian Literature
The Zoological Museum
The Botanical Museum
The Museum of Mineralogy
The "Emil Isac" Memorial Museum
The Firemen's Museum
The Water Museum
THEATRE - OPERA - CINEMA
The Hungarian State Theatre
The Hungarian Opera
The "Puck" Puppet Theatre
The Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra
The Students' Culture House
Republica Cinema
Victoria Cinema
Arta Eurimage Cinema
FOREIGN CULTURAL CENTRES AND LIBRARIES
The French Cultural Centre
The "J. F. Kennedy" American Cultural Centre
The British Council
The Finnish Cultural centre SINDAN
The German Cultural Centre
The Resource Centre for Ethno-Cultural Diversity
ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS
Medieval Edifices
Calvaria Church
The Franciscan Church
The "Transfiguration" Greek-Catholic Church
The Piarist Church
The Reformed Church
The "St. Trinity" Orthodox Church
The Old Palace of the City Hall
St. Peter Roman Church
Edifices of the Modern Epoch
The Palace of Finances
The University Bookshop
The County Hall
The City Hall
"Lucian Blaga" Central University Library
The National Bank
The Palace of Justice
The Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture
The Orthodox Archbishopric Palace
The Palace of the Railway Board
The Synagogue
Edifices of the Contemporary Epoch
The Regional Studios of Radio and TV Broadcasting Stations
The Astronomical Observatory
The Chemistry Institute
The University House
The Municipal Stadium
The Airport
The Military Circle
The Isotopic and Molecular Technology Institute
The Oncology Institute
The "Gheorghe Dima" Academy of Music
The Academy Library
Fine Art Monuments
The Obelisk of Emperor Francisc I
"Glory to the Romanian Soldier" Monument
"St. George Killing the Dragon" Statue
Avram Iancu's Monument
Matei Corvin's Monument
"Horea, Closca and Crisan" Statuary Group
"The Heroes of the Country" Monument
Lupa Capitolina with Romulus and Remus
SQUARES & PARKS
The Central Park
Cetatuia Park
Mihai Viteazul Square
Avram Iancu Square
Lucian Blaga Square
Unirii Square
The Historical Centre
Why do we consider these places part of the "Best of..." the City of Cluj-Napoca?
*The Botanical Garden
If you visit the City of Cluj-Napoca, you are likely to be charmed by the patrimony of the most beautiful and complex Botanical Garden in Europe. It was founded in 1872 and reorganized in 1920 by Professor Alexandru Borza and it spreads over 14 ha with different specific areas. The National Botanical Museum inside the Botanical Garden counts over 11000 exhibits from all over the world.
Attractions
- The Japanese Garden
- The Roman Garden (improved with statues and Roman vestiges)
- Green-houses (3500 square meters with equatorial, tropical and subtropical plants)
- The Botanical Museum (6900 pieces)
- Herbarium of the University (635000 pages with samples from Romanian and international flora)
*The Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania
It is one of the oldest and biggest Ethnographic Museums of Romania, founded in 1922. It has been hosted since 1959 by Reduta Palace, a historical monument where the process of the so-called "memorandists" took place (1889-1895). It is a national museum with over 65000 pieces telling about the culture of the Romanian folk (occupations of the inhabitants of Transylvania, ceramics, textiles, folk costumes, traditional objects, housing and food).
The Ethnographic open air section "Romulus Vuia" is the first open air museum from Romania and the sixth from Europe. Founded in 1929 by the greatest Romanian ethnographer, Romulus Vuia, it exhibits Transylvanian popular architecture, peasants' technical equipments, handicraft workshops, ethno-botanical and ethno-zoological areas. It hosts annual fairs and traditional cultural events.
*The National Theatre and Romanian Opera
The construction was built in 1906, in baroque-rococo style, but the National Theatre and the Romanian Opera were inaugurated in 1919, with a capacity of 1050 seats. The National Theatre is the biennale organizer of the Romanian National Theatres Gala, meant in the near future as an event for all national theatres from Central and Eastern Europe. The Romanian Opera is the oldest Romanian lyric-dramatic institute, its repertoire counts over 200 international and Romanian opera, operetta and ballet titles.
*The Taylors' Bastion
It is a historical monument, symbol of the medieval town of Cluj, vestige of the second row of fortifications built in the 15th century by the handicraft workers from Cluj upon order of King Sigismund of Luxemburg and partially rebuilt between 1627-1629 by Prince of Transylvania Gabriel Bethlen. It was renovated in 1959.
The Statue of Baba Novac was built in 1975, in the memory of the general Baba Novac from Mihai Viteazu's army, fallen during a rebellion of the nobles. The statue was impaled in front of the nowadays tower in 1601.
*The Reformed Church
It is the biggest gothic single-room church from Eastern Europe, well-known for its acoustics. It was built upon order of Mathias Corvine, until the 16th century.
Rarities
-renaissance pulpit
-furniture from the 15th century
-Rococo-style organ from 1766
-the funerary monuments of Apafy family
In the southern part of the construction are the ruins of the Claustrum, where once was a prestigious European university college.
The Statue of "Saint George Killing the Dragon" in front of the Reformed Church is a copy of the first and most famous equestrian statues of the early European Renaissance realized by sculptors of Cluj in 1373, upon order of Carol the 4th, for the King Palace of Prague (where the original one is situated).
*The "Adormirea Maicii Domnului" Romanian Orthodox Cathedral
It was built between 1923 and 1933. It has Brancoveanu architecture, triconch style, with Byzantine decorative elements. The interior f the cathedral is decorated with mural paintings in fresco and interested people can find here old art collections, manuscripts, books, documents of the church's history and confessions about the Romanian nation's past.
*"Saint Michael" Roman-Catholic Cathedral
It is a historical and religious architectural monument, built between 1350 and 1847. The most important gothic construction from our country, with the highest tower in Transylvania. The main porch, sculpted in 1528 in German Renaissance style, presents in its central part the chiseled image of Archangel Michael.
It has remarkable interior and exterior decoration and pulpit with baroque sculptures. The colored churches window glass and the mural painting from the 15th century with northern Italian stylistic influence show the first signs of the Renaissance in the painting of Cluj.
The equestrian statue of King Mathias Corvine (1458-1490), surrounded by a group of warriors was realized in 1902.
*Mathias Corvinus House
The natal house of Mathias Corvine, prince of Transylvania is a historical and laique architectural monument. It was built in the 15th century in gothic style, with Renaissance influences. It has been reshaped during the following centuries and from the original building only the door frames in late gothic style and the front with Renaissance elements have remained. At the moment, the natal house of Mathias Corvinus is the seat of "Ion Andreescu" Arts and Design University.
*"Babes-Bolyai" University
The most prestigious education center from Transylvania which transforms Cluj-Napoca in one of the academic top centers of Romania and attracts students from Romania and from the whole world. Since 1872, there was already in Cluj a high-level education institute with faculties for medicine, literature, science and law. The construction was built between 1893 and 1903 and it is a masterpiece of the architect Carol Meixner.
*Banffy Palace
Banffy Palace is the most representative baroque building from Transylvania. It was built between 1774 and 1785 by the German architect Johann Eberhard Blaumann. The building hosts the biggest Arts Museum in Romania. It was nominated for EMYA price as the European Museum of the year 1997.
