Today we travel to the
\nwest of Romania, to Cluj county. We begin our trip in the city of Cluj Napoca,
\nwhose centre is full of tourist attractions. The events held in this part of
\nthe country are numerous, many of international scope, and the gastronomy is
\nreally special. The oldest cookery book in Romania dating from the 15th
\ncentury has been republished here. In the centre you will be surprised at the
\nlarge number of churches and their diversity. You will find on the same street
\nReformed, Roman-Catholic, Unitarian and Greek-Catholic churches. Cluj has been
\nfamous for its religious tolerance since the 17th century, when a
\nnew denomination appeared here, Unitarianism. The city’s non-religious
\nbuildings are equally diverse in terms of architectural style. <\/p>\n
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The entire central part is
\nhome to structures built at the end of the 18th century in the Habsburg
\nstyle. Our guide today, Marius Oprea, from the Cluj Napoca Tourist Information
\nCentre, tells us more about the city’s historical centre:<\/p>\n
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There are several
\nhistorical buildings here, such as the Roman-Catholic St Michael’s Church, the Matthias Corvinus statuary group, the Banffy
\nPalace which houses the Art Museum, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Lucian
\nBlaga National Theatre and, of course, the Museum Square. These structures can
\nbe found in the central area and, being close to one another, can be visited on
\nfoot. There are other sites not far from the centre such as the Citadel Hill
\nwith the ruins of the former Habsburg fortress from where you can get a view of
\nthe city, the Botanical Gardens, one of the most visited tourist sites in Cluj Napoca
\nand the Romului Vuia Ethnographic Park, the oldest of its kind in the country.
\nCluj Napoca has always been and will remain an open city, it can be visited at
\nany time of the year. The winter may be coming, but there are many events
\nplanned, and this makes the city attractive for tourists.<\/p>\n
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Cluj Napoca is also home
\nto many important national and international events. Marius Oprea:<\/p>\n
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Untold is the most
\nimportant music festival in this part of Europe. It takes place every year at
\nthe beginning of August. The biggest and most important film festival in
\nRomania, Transylvania, is held at the end of May and the beginning of June. We
\nalso host the Cluj Days, Jazz in the Park and Electric Castle, which takes
\nplace every year in the Bonffy castle in Bontida. The Christmas fair will begin
\non the 23rd of November and we will also host an international
\ntheatre festival called Interferente, which is held every two years and which
\nis held at the end of November this year.<\/p>\n
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Marius Oprea with the
\nTravel Information Center in Cluj Napoca is inviting us to visit the tourist
\nattractions in the county.<\/p>\n
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Most of the tourists who
\ntravel to Cluj Napoca are also visiting the Turda Salt Mine, as it’s just a
\n30-minute drive from the city. This salt mine is unique in the country and even
\nin this part of Europe. It’s a former salt mine on different levels, which was
\nrestored with European funds and today looks more like an underground city. The
\nmine contains a series of treatment and recreation facilities, including a lake
\nwhere you can boat rides. Other sites close to the salt mine and also worth
\nvisiting are the Turda Gorges, the Banffy Castle in Bontida and of course the
\nmountain ranges of Cluj County with the Rachitele Waterfall and the lakes area
\nof Belis Tarnita.<\/p>\n
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The Turda salt mine was
\nfirst mentioned in historical documents on May 1st 1271, shortly
\nafter the first mention of the city of Turda. The rich deposits of salt in this
\narea were exploited for centuries and that led to the development of the city,
\nwhich became the headquarters of the Transylvanian ruling councils. The city,
\nwhich was also the first to decree the freedom of religion, had a significant
\ncontribution to the material prosperity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. <\/p>\n
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The salt mine was modernised
\nin 2010 and besides underground boat rides, it also offers other facilities,
\nsuch as mini-golf courses, a Ferris wheel, bowling, as well as an outdoor
\nelevator going up to the mine’s ceiling at 50 meters high. After all these activities
\nyou may get hungry and want to try some of the delicious local cuisine. Here is
\nMarius Oprea with more on this issue.<\/p>\n
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People are increasingly
\ninterested in local and traditional cuisine and we are proud to be in
\npossession of Transylvania’s oldest book of recipes. The book, which was first
\npublished in late 15th century, has been republished and is now used
\nas inspiration for many restaurants, which are trying to make certain recipes known
\nagain. It was translated by professor Lukacs Jozsef from Cluj Napoca and was
\npublished in partnership with a publishing house from Bucharest. The recipes
\nare 90% accurate as they no longer use some of the original ingredients, but
\nthey do retain the local character.<\/p>\n
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According to Marius Oprea,
\nthe number of tourists visiting the region is on the rise:<\/p>\n
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Our travel information centre
\nis visited by 20 thousand people annually. We provide leaflets and pamphlets in
\n9 different languages as tourists come from all over the world. Most of them are
\nimpressed with the city and the surrounding areas and their number grows by 30%
\neach year, being double than the national average. This is by no means possible
\nthanks to the events taking place here and the region’s tourist attractions. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tourism in Cluj and its surroundings has been on the rise in recent years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":147409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43423],"tags":[29888,44169],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-149448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travellers-guide","tag-cluj","tag-turda-salt-mine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n