urban cluj

Sep 15, 2009

Back to school

Commercial billboard on Calea Turzii. School started this week...

Sep 14, 2009

O plimbare pe Bariţiu

Old and new buildings on Baritiu street.

Sep 13, 2009

O curte şi acoperişuri pe Memorandului

Detail of an inner courtyard, on Memorandului street.

Sep 12, 2009

O privire spre oraş dinspre Cetăţuia

Path to the city: downview from the Cetatuia hill.

Sep 11, 2009

BCU

Facade details of the Babes-Bolyai University library, in Lucian Blaga square.

Sep 10, 2009

Gothic Club

Entrance to Gothic Club, on Hermann Oberth street.

Sep 9, 2009

Rufe la uscat în zona Abatorului

Clothes hanging over interior balconies to dry, in Abatorului zone.

Sep 8, 2009

O biserică între blocuri

Romanic-style church surrounded by communist era blocks, green hills and an insinuating sky, in Manastur neighborhood.

Sep 7, 2009

Instantaneu pe str. Matei Corvin

Steet scene with souvenir vendors and tourists, on Matei Corvin street.

Sep 6, 2009

Liceul de muzică

Roman ruins (2-4 centuries BCE) in front of the "Sigismund Toduta" Music High School (housed in a 15th century former Franciscan monastery).

Sep 5, 2009

Flori la ferestre în soarele de septembrie

Windows and flowers on a sad street in the September sun.

Sep 4, 2009

Palatul de Justiţie

The Palace of Justice on Dorobantilor Street, built in eclectic style at the turn of the 20th century.

Sep 3, 2009

Regina-nopţii înspre Parcul Caragiale

Nicotianas at the entrance of Caragiale Park.

Sep 2, 2009

Sep 1, 2009

Colaj arhitectural

Vintage-like architectural collage seen from Avram Iancu square.

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.