The Capitoline Wolf Statue ( ro, Statuia Lupoaicei) in

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

is located on Eroilor Boulevard, in the city centre on the banks of the Someșul Mic River.

Overview

After the

Union of Transylvania with Romania The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia. The Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day''), celebrated on 1 December, is a national holiday in Roman ...

of 1 December 1918, the University of Upper Dacia was organised at Cluj, ultimately being renamed King Ferdinand I University. It was officially opened on 1 February 1920 in the presence of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Ferdinand I and of the royal family. Representatives of the

Allies of World War I The Allies of World War I, Entente Powers, or Allied Powers were a coalition of countries led by France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Em ...

and of countries neutral during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

were also present. The following year, the Italian state made a gift to the city of Cluj a copy of the

Capitoline Wolf The Capitoline Wolf (Italian: ''Lupa Capitolina'') is a bronze sculpture depicting a scene from the legend of the founding of Rome. The sculpture shows a she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. According to the ...

, after it had already given one to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

in 1906 and another one to

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ), also known as Kishinev (russian: Кишинёв, r=Kishinjóv ), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial center, and is located in the ...

in 1921. In the following years a fourth would be sent to

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

and a fifth to

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the List of cities and towns in Romania, 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 Romania ...

. They all symbolised the unity of Romanians from all parts of the country and their

Latinity Latinity (''Latinitas'') is proficiency in Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then kn ...

. The Cluj-Napoca monument, brought to Cluj by a delegation of 200 Italians, mostly students, is a faithful copy of the

, with

Romulus Romulus () was the legendary foundation of Rome, founder and King of Rome, first king of Ancient Rome, Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus ...

and Remus beneath her. To it was added a bas-relief of

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

, executed by sculptor Ettore Ferrari, along with the inscription ''Alla citta di Cluj, Roma Madre, MCMXXI'' ("To the City of Cluj, Mother Rome, 1921"). It was decided to place the monument in Unirii Square, in front of the Statue of Matthias Corvinus. The first Romanian mayor of Cluj,

Iulian Pop Iulian Pop (12 March 1880 – 22 November 1923) was an Austro-Hungarian and Romanian lawyer and politician, who became the first Romanian mayor of Cluj on 19 January 1919, a month after Transylvania became part of the Romanian state. He remaine ...

, unveiled the monument on 28 September 1921 in the presence of over 25,000 residents. After the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all o ...

in 1940, a significant part of Cluj's Romanian population was forced to leave the city; the statue too was taken away to safety. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the statue was brought back to Cluj, but the prevailing political climate did not permit the statue to be put back in its original location, so it was placed in front of the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, where it remained until 1973, when the statue was again placed in Unirii Square. A group of statues of members of the

Transylvanian School The Transylvanian School ( ro, Școala Ardeleană) was a cultural movement which was founded after part of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Habsburg-ruled Transylvania accepted the leadership of the pope and became the Greek-Catholic Church (). The ...

was set up in its place in front of the university. In 1994 the statue was removed from its location at the intersection of Eroilor Boulevard and Unirii Square and replaced with the Memorandum Signers' Monument, erected in honour of the men who signed the

Transylvanian Memorandum The ''Transylvanian Memorandum'' ( ro, Memorandumul Transilvaniei) was a petition sent in 1892 by the leaders of the Romanians of Transylvania to the Austro-Hungarian Emperor-King Franz Joseph, asking for equal ethnic rights with the Hungarians ...

and had the strength to stand up to the

magyarization Magyarization ( , also ''Hungarization'', ''Hungarianization''; hu, magyarosítás), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in Austro-Hungarian Transleithan ...

measures against Romanians being undertaken by the Austro-Hungarian regime. The dedication of the monument took place exactly 100 years after the memorandum signers were sent to prison. The Statue of the She-Wolf was moved to the Transylvanian History Museum, where it was restored by the sculptor Liviu Mocan, later being placed in the middle of Eroilor Boulevard.

References

* Bodea, Gheorghe. ''Clujul vechi şi nou''. Cluj-Napoca, 2002 * ''Cluj-Napoca=Claudiopolis''. Noi Media Print, Bucharest, 2004. * ''Cluj-Napoca – Ghid''. Editura Sedona, 2002.

External links

{{coord, 46, 46, 10, N, 23, 35, 32, E, source:kolossus-rowiki, display=title Monuments and memorials in Cluj-Napoca Outdoor sculptures in Romania History of Cluj-Napoca Wolves in art hu:Kolozsvár köztéri szobrai

Overview

See also

References

External links