Cluj-Napoca 

Cluj-Napoca Iuliu Maniu Street

Cluj Sights

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 János 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)