The medieval Cluj – Heart of Transylvania

- I – Cluj-Napoca has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Presumably, here stood one of the forts of the Dacians, and then the Romans erected a castrum in its place. During the time of the Árpád Dynasty, the settlement started to develop. In the 13th century, it received privileges from Stephen V. King of Hungary. They were reaffirmed by Charles I. King of Hungary in 1316. The fortification of the Old Town began in the 15th century, but the city soon outgrew its already existing walls. In 1405, the city was awarded the status of a free royal city and granted permission to build new fortification walls. The construction was completed during the reign of King Matthias. A new defensive wall was erected, about 3 km long, which partly included the walls of the Old Town. The new protective wall was an irregularly shaped fortification with 18 towers and four bastions. - II – In 1437 the rebels led by Antal Nagy-Budai occupied the city, but in 1438 they were recaptured by the noblemen armies. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the city council was formed by Saxons and Hungarians. City judges were also appointed alternately. During the reign of John Sigismund II, under the aegis of the Reformation, the city began to develop rapidly. It broke away from the previously accepted Lutheran Church, and by taking the Unitarian religion, it became part of the vibrant Transylvanian spiritual, intellectual life of the time. During the reign of the Bathory family, the crumbling city walls were repaired and fortified. In 1613 Prince Gábor Bethlen was elected prince of Transylvania behind these walls. At his expense, the southeastern corner bastion, the former Taylors Bastion, was rebuilt, and since 1629 it was called the Bethlen Bastion. During the reign of György Rákóczi I. and II., the city's fortifications were repaired and strengthened. Perhaps this is why the Turkish armies did not besiege the city in 1660, after the battle of nearby Florești, but they imposed a tax on the City. - III – In 1661, János Kemény and the imperial armies occupied Cluj and placed a German guard there. In 1662 Prince Mihály Apafi besieged the fortress of Cluj, and the battle ended with a ceasefire. From 1664 it became the property of Apafi. Between 1664 and 1687, the castle became the property of Apafi. He later surrendered himself and the city to General Friedrich Veterani from the army of Charles V.  Duke of Lorraine, causing the city's decline in 1690. Cluj became the seat of Transylvania again in 1790, and after the fire of 1798, the city began to expand significantly outside the walls. It was during this time that the castle walls and bastions were demolished. Today, only the Bethlen Bastion has survived, and remnants of the southern walls and bastions are visible.