Cluj lies in northern Transylvania and is one of the most Hungarian cities in Romania. For Hungarians it is primarily the birthplace of their king Matthias Corvinus, and for Romanians a symbol of independence and consolidation of Romanian lands into one state.
The historical name of the city was Cluj and so it was recorded for centuries. The Napok addition was added by the communist authorities after World War II to emphasize the connection of this place with the former Thracian settlement. It was a way to build a national community and cut off from the German and Hungarian roots of Transylvania.
The center of Cluj consists of two connected parts. The first of these is the Market Square and its immediate surroundings, where the traditional layout of a medieval city founded on German law has been preserved. The heart of this place is the powerful, Gothic church of St. Michał with a high tower and a strict interior. Next to him stands the equestrian statue of Maciej Korwin.
The family home, in which the later king of Hungary was born, can be found in a narrow street behind the Market Square. This part of the Old Town houses a lot of restaurants and bars, as well as shops and souvenir stalls. This is the only fragment of the traditional old town with cobbled streets.
On the other side of the Market begins a wide boulevard leading to the Orthodox cathedral erected in the interwar period and the National Theater. Both buildings are a symbol of Romanian revival, and the powerful church referring to Byzantine models shows the triumph of Orthodoxy. Next to it stands a statue of the leader of the Romanian uprising against the Austrian and Hungarian authorities, Avram Iancu. And on the boulevard you can see the statue of Capitoline Wolf, which is a reference to the belief that Romania comes from the Romans and Thracians.
