The Capitoline Wolf Statue () in

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

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

, 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 Public holidays in Romani ...

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 a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Ferdinand I and of the royal family. Representatives of the

Allies of World War I The Allies or the Entente (, ) was an international military coalition of countries led by the French Republic, the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, the United States, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Empire of Japan against the Central Powers ...

and of countries neutral during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 language, Italian: ''Lupa Capitolina'') is a bronze sculpture depicting a scene from the legend of the founding of Rome. The sculpture shows a She-wolf (Roman mythology), she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders ...

, after it had already given

one 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

in 1906 and another

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

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

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

and a fifth to

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') 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 city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

. They all symbolised the unity of Romanians from all parts of the country and their Latinity. 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 founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of th ...

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

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

, executed by sculptor

Ettore Ferrari Ettore Ferrari (Rome, 25 March 1845 – Rome, 19 August 1929) was an Italian sculptor and Grand Master Mason. Biography Born in Rome to an artistic family (his father was also a painter), Ferrari was one of the members of the artistic rebirth ...

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

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all of Maramureș and part of Cri ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, where it remained until 1973, when the statue was again placed in Unirii Square. A group of statues of members of the Transylvanian School 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 and had the strength to stand up to the

magyarization Magyarization ( , also Hungarianization; ), after "Magyar"—the Hungarian autonym—was an assimilation or acculturation process by which non-Hungarian nationals living in the Kingdom of Hungary, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, adop ...

measures against Romanians being undertaken by the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

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

{{PlacesCluj Monuments and memorials in Cluj-Napoca Outdoor sculptures in Romania History of Cluj-Napoca Sculptures of wolves Animal sculptures in Romania 1921 sculptures She-wolf (Roman mythology) Historic monuments in Romania

Overview

See also

References

External links