BABES-BOLYAI UNIVERSITY

Dr. Donald Davis

Cluj-Napoca

Cluj-Napoca is an ancient city, whose history goes back as far as the Dacian period. In AD 124, Napoca (as it was then called by the Romans) attained municipal status before Marcus Aurelius elevated it to a colony sometime between AD 161 and 180.

During the early Medieval period, the town was called "Castrum Clus,"
and was home to German merchants who would later call the town Klausenberg. From 1791 to 1848, Cluj-Napoca served as the capital of Transylvania, when it was officially part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

The city of nearly 400,000 is divided by the Somesul river, and has a large Hungarian minority population. During the 1970s, to emphasize the Daco-Roman origin of the city, Ceausescu added Napoca to the official title of Cluj. Today, residents simply refer to the city as Cluj.

"There's a sassy,savvy feel to Cluj-Napoca and its resdients. Everyone here seems to walk with a strut, decked out in fashionable styles that may have not even made it to Bucharest. People are living in a hip happening city, and they know it. While not as photogenic as other Transylvanian cities, there are trendy bards galore and cool places with cool people throughout the extended center. "

The Lonely Planet