Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (324 km / 201 mi), Budapest (351 km / 218 mi) and Belgrade (322 km / 200 mi). Located in the Somesul Mic River valley, the city is considered the unofficial capital to the historical province of Transylvania. In 1790-1848 and 1861-1867, it was the official capital of the Grand Principality of Transylvania.
The first written mention of its name – as a Royal Borough – was in 1213 under the Latin name Castrum Clus. Despite the fact that Clus as a county name was recorded in the 1173 document Thomas comes Clusiensis, it is believed that the county’s designation derives from the name of the castrum, which might have existed prior to its first mention in 1213, and not vice versa.
Many craft guilds were established in the second half of the 13th century, and a patrician stratum based in commerce and craft production displaced the older landed elite in the town’s leadership. Through the privilege granted by Sigismund of Luxembourg in 1405, the city opted out from the jurisdiction of voivodes, vice-voivodes and royal judges, and obtained the right to elect a twelve-member jury every year. In 1488, King Matthias Corvinus (born in Klausenburg in 1440) ordered that the centumvirate-the city council, consisting of one hundred men-be half composed from the homines bone conditiones (the wealthy people), with craftsmen supplying the other half; together they would elect the chief judge and the jury.In 1541, Klausenburg became part of the independent Principality of Transylvania after the Ottoman Turks occupied the central part of the Kingdom of Hungary; a period of economic and cultural prosperity followed.
Historical Center
The Matthias Corvinus House – The birth house of Matthias Corvinus(1443)- the most powerful king of Hungary(1458-1490) is a historical monument built in the 15-th century. The interior preserves a series of items belonging to the late Gothic style.
The Reformed Church and the Statue of “Saint George” – was built with the support of Matthias Corvinus, at the end of the 15-th century and the beginning of the 16-th century, being ranked among the most massive Gothic constructions of Transylvania.
The “Saint Michael” Church and the Matthias Corvinus Statuary Ensemble – Historical Monument dating back from 1350-1487, is one of the most imposing Gothic edifices from Romania. In front of it, there is the Matthias Corvinus Statuary Ensemble.
The Defense Walls and the Tailors Tower – various defense walls from the middle ages and a defensive tower on the South-Eastern corner of the extended fortified precinct of the medieval town.
The National Theater – The theater was built between 1904 and 1906 by the famous Austrian architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer who designed several theaters and palaces across Europe.