urban cluj: April 2010

Apr 30, 2010

Apr 29, 2010

A view on the city

A view on the city taken from the Botanical Garden water tower.

Apr 28, 2010

Apr 27, 2010

Apr 26, 2010

Apr 25, 2010

Apr 24, 2010

Apr 23, 2010

Apr 22, 2010

Apr 21, 2010

Apr 20, 2010

Apr 19, 2010

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Apr 6, 2010

Post-industrial

Former Flacara factory of textile and ready-made clothes. It employed about 1,000 workers in its heydays .

Apr 5, 2010

Apr 4, 2010

Apr 3, 2010

Apr 2, 2010

Blocks and playground

Apartment blocks and children playground in Grigorescu neighborhood.

Apr 1, 2010

Willow

Weeping willow bent over Morii Canal.

Cluj is the third big city in Romania considering its population, with a general number of residents & commuters in its metro area of about 400,000.

It is largely known as the capital-city of the historical province of Transylvania - land of medieval citadels, wild crags, caves and forests, and the famous figure of Dracula.

Historically speaking Cluj was settled as a colony by the Romans (Colonia Aurelia Napoca) by the 2nd century CE, from where came the name of Napoca, and thereafter developed as fortress and city by the Hungarians, Saxons and Austrians - which conferred it the cultural, architectural, and urban influences of the multicultural Central Europe. Romanians, who constantly were the dominant rural population around the city, became the city rulers in 1918, when Transylvania became part of Romania, and developed it, especially within the Communist regime, after the 1947, by constructing large industries and working-class neighborhoods.

Along its history, Cluj acknowledged periods of progress and illuminism - sustained by a notable university and the medical and legal centers developed here already since the 16th century - together with warfare, nationalistic and religious troubles and stagnation - due to medieval invasions, far-right politics encouraging hostilities between Magyars and Romanians, and religious tensions between Greek-Catholics and Greek-Orthodoxs.

Today it is considered among the major hotbeds of development regarding the human capital in the region - due to its large number of university students, vibrant culture, safe social and economic environment, and perspectives for further development.