The first archaeologically attested medieval settlement on the territory of the historical city centre of Cluj dates back to the 12th century at the latest. This settlement, along with the royal castle and the village of Cluj-Mănăștur were devastated during the Mongol invasion in 1241, and most of the inhabitants were slaughtered. After the Mongol invasion, the settlement was donated to the Bishop of Transylvania and populated by the German “guests” colonized by King Stephen V (1257-1269). The first fortification of the settlement was that of the Old Castle, built in the second half of the 13th century with a quadrangular layout, with inner towers and two gates. King Charles Robert of Anjou (1308-1342) granted the settlement the rank of town in 1316.
As a result of the development policy of Hungarian cities, by the decree of 1405, King Sigismund of Luxembourg granted several of the country’s towns, including Cluj, the rank of royal free town, and gave them the right to surround themselves with new fortification walls. The new medieval enclosure was completed by the middle of the 15th century. It was a fortification built with a rectangular layout, with 20 outer towers, six of which served as gates. The fortification suffered numerous sieges in the following centuries. The defence and repair of the fortification were handled by the city guilds, most of the interventions being marked with commemorative slabs decorated with the town’s emblem, or with the coat of arms and the name of the prince and the names of the town judges of the period. At the beginning of the 18th century, the old walls could no longer meet the new requirements of military architecture, thus the Vauban-style fortification of the Citadel was built between 1715-1723, according to the plans of the Italian military architect Giovanni Morando Visconti (1652-1717).
The old walls and towers of the medieval enclosures were demolished during the 19th century, leaving only the south-eastern tower of the Old Castle, the tower of the weavers’ guild (later the firemen’s guild), the tower of the tailors, masons, carpenters, shoemakers, as well as some portions of the fortification walls.
(Illustration) Image of Cluj, engraver Georg Hoefnagel, 1617, coloured engraving (National Museum of Transylvanian History)
(Illustration) The Gate Tower on Podului Street, photographer Ferenc Veress, 1869 (Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár, Budapest)
(Illustration) The Gate Tower on Ungurilor Street, photographer Ferenc Veress, 1869 (Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár, Budapest)
(Illustration) Gate tower on Podului street
(Illustration) Gate tower on Ungurilor Street