Welcome to Cluj-Napoca
History
It was built on the site of an ancient pre-Roman settlement called Napoca, after 106 AD, when the area was conquered by the Roman Empire. And the name Napoca may have belonged to an ancient Dacian tribe, with the name “Naparis” or “Napaei”, a word related to the Greek word “NAPOS” which means “valley tribe”.
The first mention of the word “Cluj” appears in a writing from 1213 in Latin “Castrum Clus”, even if “clus” appears in another writing from 1173, in which the name “Miklus-Miklos / Kolos” is specified. very rich Saxon-Hungarian.
Over time, the name has changed and has been mentioned in various royal documents of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, such as “Kolosvar” in Hungarian or “Klausenburg” in German, or the Italian name “Clausemburgo”.
The first mention of the form in the Romanian language was written in a poem by the greatest Romanian poet, Mihai Eminesc, and “Cluș” and “Cluj” were written in his poetry.
Other historical names for the city, all related to or derived from “Cluj” in different languages, include Latin Claudiopolis, Italian Clausemburgo, Turkish Kaloşvar and Yiddish קלויזנבורג Kloyznburg or קלאזין Klazin.
The current and official name was decided in 1974, when the communist authorities decided to keep both the pre-Roman and the Latin name, so “Cluj-Napoca” was kept as the official name.
Geography
Cluj-Napoca is located in the central part of Transylvania, for which it is often referred to as the heart of Transylvania or the capital of Transylvania.
It is located in the Somes plateau, being crossed by the Somesul Mic and Nadas rivers, surrounded by hills and mountains.
Near the city of 40-50 km, you can visit various castles and ruins of fortresses, but also many monasteries hundreds of years old.
Culture, entertainment and people
The city center is largely renovated, and you can visit historic buildings over 500 years old.
In the center you can see the walls and towers of the old medieval fortress and you can walk on the narrow streets of one of the oldest cities in Romania.
Cluj is very effervescent, full of life, tourists and young people, being a university center that attracts young people from all over Romania to its prestigious universities.
The center is full of bars, pubs and cafes and restaurants will serve you with traditional or international food of very good quality and taste.
In the city of Cluj-Napoca but also nearby, 2 of the most prestigious electronic music festivals in Europe are organized, Electric Castel and Untold, which attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
Also in Cluj-Napoca, the Transilvania TIFF international film festival started in 2002 and is organized annually, being the first and largest film festival in Romania.
The people are very welcoming and like the ethnic groups in the county and the city there are many nations: Romanians, Hungarians, Gypsies, Germans, Jews, Turks, Italians, Greeks, Russians, etc.
