The Matthias Corvinus House (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

: ''Casa Matia'', hu, Mátyás király szülőháza) is one of the oldest buildings in Cluj-Napoca,

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

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

. It was built in the 15th century, in the gothic style, as a small guesthouse. During its history, the house served as a jail, hospital, and museum; it is now home to a visual arts institute.

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several m ...

(Hungarian: ''Hunyadi Mátyás'', Romanian: ''Matia Corvin''), son of

John Hunyadi John Hunyadi (, , , ; 1406 – 11 August 1456) was a leading Hungarian military and political figure in Central and Southeastern Europe during the 15th century. According to most contemporary sources, he was the member of a noble family of ...

, later one of the most renowned

Kings of Hungary The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 175 ...

, was born in this building on 23 February 1443. That time the house was owned by Jakab (James) Méhffi, who was a well-to-do wine-grower and merchant in the city. On 28 September 1467, king Matthias gave tax and duty exemption privilege for all descendants of the Méhffi family, the owner of the building. The house has been owned by the

Art and Design University of Cluj-Napoca The Art and Design University ( ro, italic=yes, Universitatea de Artă şi Design, UAD;) is an art university located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It was founded on November 15, 1925, as the ''Fine Arts School of Cluj''. Formerly known as Academy o ...

since 1950.

External links

The house of Matthias Corvinus, the only king born in Cluj
Buildings and structures in Cluj-Napoca History of Cluj-Napoca Hunyadi family Houses in Romania Hungarian culture Gothic architecture in Romania 15th-century architecture {{ClujCounty-geo-stub