A day in Cluj in the heart of Transylvania

Cluj is one of our favorite Romanian cities in Transylvania, but we never managed to stay more than 2 days there. We thought a lot to get better at organizing and spend more days to properly discover the city, but so far we didn’t have the time. The biggest inconvenience is the distance because it’s not that fun to spend 6 hours on Romanian roads. We saw that some low cost airlines are starting to operate on Bucharest-Cluj segment, so who knows, may the price tickets will get lower. We arrived in Cluj on the same weekend that was hosting one of the biggest music festivals i the country, Electric Castle. We didn’t go for he festival though, we just wanted to see some tennis. The same weekend was the Davis Cup tie between Romania and Spain. Since we’re big tennis fans, we wanted to see how the atmosphere at a Davis Cup match is and although we only stayed for the matches on day one, it was quite interesting. We still had some time to walk around Cluj and we made a list with top things you can do when you don’t have that much time to truly visit.

1. Start your trip on Union Square and St. Michael Church. Union Square is the symbol of Cluj, the main important streets going on from here. The square was formed in 12th-14th centuries, being transformed in an ornamental one in the 19th century. In the middle of the square there’s St. Michael Church, second biggest Gothic church in Romania, after the Black Church in Brasov. The construction began in 1316, the year that Cluj became officially a city.

2.Find the street in the mirror. Near the St Michael Church you’ll find this unique street in Europe, where you’ll see two identical buildings on the either side of Iuliu Maniu street. Legend has it that these “palaces” were built so that a nobleman two daughters don’t get upset when they would receive their inheritance. 3. Go to Bulevardul Eroilor (The Heroes Boulevard). Just near Union Square it’s the kind of street that we like a lot. That is, a street full of various cafes and restaurants, situated in old and beautifully renovated buildings. After you’ve had your morning coffee, you can walk down the street with your camera ready. All those pretty buildings will inspire you for sure.

4. Visit the Botanical Garden. Spread on about 35 acres, it hosts over 10000 species from all the continents. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful gardens in South-Eastern Europe. The Garden is under the administration of Babes-Bolyai University, being also a research base for the Biology students. We arrive pretty late there, almost to the closing hour so we only managed to see the greenhouses and the Japanese garden.

5. Hike up to the Cetatuia. This the place to go to see Cluj from up above. Originally it was a defense fortification built in the 18th century during the Habsburg era on the hill with the same name. Today, all you can find is just a part of the defense walls and Southeastern and Northern access gates. Over time it was also used as a prison. At the beginning of the 20th century it was considered a slump, being one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. In the ’70, along with the construction of the Belvedere hotel, one of the most beautiful hotels around, mainly because of its view, the area was highly modernized.