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Cluj Napoca
KNOWLEDGE OF Cluj Napoca
Cluj-Napoca, until 1974 Cluj, (name in Latin: Claudiopolis; German: Klausenburg; Hungarian: Kolozsvár), the seat of Cluj county, is one of the most important academic, cultural and industrial centers in Romania. The city is located in northwestern Romania, and is approximately 320 km (200 miles) northwest of Bucharest in the Someşul Mic valley.
Settlement at Cluj-Napoca reaches as far back as prehistoric times. After the Roman Empire conquered Dacia in the beginning of the 2nd century, Trajan established a legion base at a Dacian settlement known as Napoca. Although it was founded as a military base, Napoca grew rapidly as civilians settled nearby. Hadrian raised Napoca to the status of a municipium, naming it Municipium Aelium Hadrianum Napoca. The locality was later raised to the status of a colonia, probably during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Napoca became a provincial capital of Provincia Porolissensis and the seat of a procurator. However, during the Migrations Period Napoca was overrun and destroyed.
King Stephen V of Hungary encouraged the Transylvanian Saxons to colonize near the Roman city of Napoca in 1272. Their settlement received the German name Klausenburg, from the old word Klause meaning "mountain pass." It has been suggested that the Romanian name Cluj is derived from Klause as well, or from the Latin clusum (closed), referring to the city being surrounded by hills. The city of Cluj / Klausenburg was also known as Kolozsvár by the Magyars who lived there.
In 1270 Cluj was given urban privileges by Stephen V and began to grow quickly: the Saint Michael Church was built under King Sigismund. Cluj became a free city in 1405. By this time the number of Saxon and Hungarian inhabitants were equal, and King Matthias Corvinus (born in Cluj in 1440) ordered that the chief judge should be Hungarian and Saxon in turn.
In 1541 Cluj became part of the Principality of Transylvania. Although Alba Iulia was the political capital for the princes of Transylvania, Cluj was the main cultural and religious center for the principality. Stephen Bathory founded a Jesuit academy in Cluj in 1581. Between 1545 and 1570 large numbers of Saxons left the town due to the introduction of Unitarian doctrines, while Hungary's wars with Ottoman Empire further reduced the German population. They were largely replaced with Magyars, and the city became a center for Hungarian nobility and intellectuals.
The first Hungarian newspaper appeared in Cluj in 1791, and the first Hungarian theatrical company was established in 1792. In 1798 the town was heavily damaged by a fire.
From 1790-1848 and 1861-1867, Cluj was the capital of the Grand Principality of Transylvania and the seat of the Transylvanian diets. Beginning in 1830, the city became the centre of the Hungarian national movement in the principality. During the Revolutions of 1848, Cluj was taken and garrisoned in December by Hungarians under the command of the Polish general Józef Bem.
After the Ausgleich (compromise) which created Austria-Hungary in 1867, Cluj and Transylvania were reintegrated into the Kingdom of Hungary. During this time Cluj was the second-largest city in the kingdom behind Budapest, and was the seat of Kolozs county.
After the First World War Cluj became part of the Kingdom of Romania, along with the rest of Transylvania. In 1940 Cluj was awarded to Hungary through the Vienna Award, but Hungarian forces in the city were defeated by the Romanian and Soviet armies in October 1944. Cluj was restored to Romania by the Treaty of Paris in 1947.
Hungarians remained the majority of the population until the 1950s. According to the 1966 Census from the 185,663 inhabitants of the city, 56% were Romanians and 41% Hungarians. Until 1974 the official Romanian name of the city was Cluj. It was renamed to Cluj-Napoca by the Communist government to recognize it as the site of the Roman colony Napoca. Some believe this was done to slight the Hungarian community, by suggesting that the ethnic Romanian community is descended from the Dacians colonized by the Romans, a controversial issue (see Origin of Romanians).
After the democratic revolution in 1990 came the twelve-year mayorship of right-wing politician Gheorghe Funar. His tenure was marked by rising anti-Hungarian sentiment, and a number of public art projects were undertaken by the city with the aim of obscuring its Hungarian heritage. In June 2004 Gheorghe Funar was voted out of office, coming in third in the first round of voting. He was replaced by Emil Boc of the Democratic Party, who began working with Hungarians to restore good ethnic relations in the city.
In 1994 and in 2000, Cluj-Napoca hosted the Central European Olympiad in Informatics (CEOI). It thus made Romania not only the first country to have hosted the CEOI, but also the first country to have hosted it a second time.
The town is known in Hasidic Jewish history for the founding of the Sanz-Klausenburg dynasty.
Settlement at Cluj-Napoca reaches as far back as prehistoric times. After the Roman Empire conquered Dacia in the beginning of the 2nd century, Trajan established a legion base at a Dacian settlement known as Napoca. Although it was founded as a military base, Napoca grew rapidly as civilians settled nearby. Hadrian raised Napoca to the status of a municipium, naming it Municipium Aelium Hadrianum Napoca. The locality was later raised to the status of a colonia, probably during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Napoca became a provincial capital of Provincia Porolissensis and the seat of a procurator. However, during the Migrations Period Napoca was overrun and destroyed.
King Stephen V of Hungary encouraged the Transylvanian Saxons to colonize near the Roman city of Napoca in 1272. Their settlement received the German name Klausenburg, from the old word Klause meaning "mountain pass." It has been suggested that the Romanian name Cluj is derived from Klause as well, or from the Latin clusum (closed), referring to the city being surrounded by hills. The city of Cluj / Klausenburg was also known as Kolozsvár by the Magyars who lived there.
In 1270 Cluj was given urban privileges by Stephen V and began to grow quickly: the Saint Michael Church was built under King Sigismund. Cluj became a free city in 1405. By this time the number of Saxon and Hungarian inhabitants were equal, and King Matthias Corvinus (born in Cluj in 1440) ordered that the chief judge should be Hungarian and Saxon in turn.
In 1541 Cluj became part of the Principality of Transylvania. Although Alba Iulia was the political capital for the princes of Transylvania, Cluj was the main cultural and religious center for the principality. Stephen Bathory founded a Jesuit academy in Cluj in 1581. Between 1545 and 1570 large numbers of Saxons left the town due to the introduction of Unitarian doctrines, while Hungary's wars with Ottoman Empire further reduced the German population. They were largely replaced with Magyars, and the city became a center for Hungarian nobility and intellectuals.
The first Hungarian newspaper appeared in Cluj in 1791, and the first Hungarian theatrical company was established in 1792. In 1798 the town was heavily damaged by a fire.
From 1790-1848 and 1861-1867, Cluj was the capital of the Grand Principality of Transylvania and the seat of the Transylvanian diets. Beginning in 1830, the city became the centre of the Hungarian national movement in the principality. During the Revolutions of 1848, Cluj was taken and garrisoned in December by Hungarians under the command of the Polish general Józef Bem.
After the Ausgleich (compromise) which created Austria-Hungary in 1867, Cluj and Transylvania were reintegrated into the Kingdom of Hungary. During this time Cluj was the second-largest city in the kingdom behind Budapest, and was the seat of Kolozs county.
After the First World War Cluj became part of the Kingdom of Romania, along with the rest of Transylvania. In 1940 Cluj was awarded to Hungary through the Vienna Award, but Hungarian forces in the city were defeated by the Romanian and Soviet armies in October 1944. Cluj was restored to Romania by the Treaty of Paris in 1947.
Hungarians remained the majority of the population until the 1950s. According to the 1966 Census from the 185,663 inhabitants of the city, 56% were Romanians and 41% Hungarians. Until 1974 the official Romanian name of the city was Cluj. It was renamed to Cluj-Napoca by the Communist government to recognize it as the site of the Roman colony Napoca. Some believe this was done to slight the Hungarian community, by suggesting that the ethnic Romanian community is descended from the Dacians colonized by the Romans, a controversial issue (see Origin of Romanians).
After the democratic revolution in 1990 came the twelve-year mayorship of right-wing politician Gheorghe Funar. His tenure was marked by rising anti-Hungarian sentiment, and a number of public art projects were undertaken by the city with the aim of obscuring its Hungarian heritage. In June 2004 Gheorghe Funar was voted out of office, coming in third in the first round of voting. He was replaced by Emil Boc of the Democratic Party, who began working with Hungarians to restore good ethnic relations in the city.
In 1994 and in 2000, Cluj-Napoca hosted the Central European Olympiad in Informatics (CEOI). It thus made Romania not only the first country to have hosted the CEOI, but also the first country to have hosted it a second time.
The town is known in Hasidic Jewish history for the founding of the Sanz-Klausenburg dynasty.
Chapi