Cluj-Napoca is the second most populated city of Romania, following Bucareste. It is located in the North-east region of the country, 324 kilometres away from Bucareste and 351 kilometres from Budapeste, in Hungary. Cluj-Napoca is considered the capital of the historic region of Transylvania and between 1790 and 1848 and between 1861 and 1867 was the official capital of the Great Principality of Transylvania.
The city is one of the main college, cultural, industrial and commercial centres in the country. The largest university of Romania, Babes-Bolyai, is located in Cluj, as well as the biggest private bank, the Banca Transilvania, and various companies such as Farmec, Jolidon and the Ursus brewery. According to the American magazine “Information Week”, Cluj-Napoca is rapidly becoming the technological capital of Romania. Cluj is also an important regional business centre.
The tourism in the city has also increased in recent years, with a significant increase of infrastructures and number of visitors, namely from countries like Hungary, Italy, Germany, Austria, France and the United States of America.
The cultural and artistic life is quite diversified, having experienced an enormous growth in the last few years. It has a medieval city, where the Saint Michael’s church stands out. Other important landmarks in the city are the Theotokos Cathedral of Dormition, the Matthias Corvinus Monument, the Central Park, the Palace of Justice, the National Museum of Arts or the Lucian Blaga National Theatre.
The city’s history goes back to the Roman Empire Age: Emperor Trajano founded Napoca during his reign, becoming the city capital of the Dácia Porolissense province. Later it was abandoned by the Romans and it only became relevant again in the Middle Ages with the conquest of Transylvania by the Magyars. In 1316 it received the city status. In late seventeenth century, Cluj became part of the Habsburgs Monarchy, and later it was also occupied by the Ottoman Empire. In the nineteenth century, Cluj was an important centre of the Hungarian revolution against the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the empire age, Romanian people were always ostracised, which forced the independence. Its independence was achieved after World War I with the integration of the Transylvania region in the Kingdom of Romania. Cluj was also a scenery of the revolt of the Romanian population in the 1989 revolution. Over the last decade the city has prospered, both in economic and demographic levels.
