KOLOZSVÁR (Ger. Klausenburg; Rum. Cluj), a town of Hungary, in Transylvania, the capital of the county of Kolozs, and formerly the capital of the whole of Transylvania, 248 m. E.S.E. of Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900), 46,670. It is situated in a picturesque valley on the banks of the Little Szamos, and comprises the inner town (formerly surrounded with walls) and five suburbs. The greater part of the town lies on the right bank of the river, while on the other side is the so-called Bridge Suburb and the citadel (erected in 1715). Upon the slopes of the citadel hill there is a gipsy quarter. With the exception of the old quarter, Kolozsvár is generally well laid out, and contains many broad and fine streets, several of which diverge at right angles from the principal square. In this square is situated the Gothic church of St Michael (1396–1432); in front is a bronze equestrian statue of King Matthias Corvinus by the Hungarian sculptor Fadrusz (1902). Other noteworthy buildings are the Reformed church, built by Matthias Corvinus in 1486 and ceded to the Calvinists by Bethlen Gabor in 1622; the house in which Matthias Corvinus was born (1443), which contains an ethnographical museum; the county and town halls, a museum, and the university buildings. A feature of Kolozsvár is the large number of handsome mansions belonging to the Transylvanian nobles, who reside here during the winter. It is the seat of a Unitarian bishop, and of the superintendent of the Calvinists for the Transylvanian circle. Kolozsvár is the literary and scientific centre of Transylvania, and is the seat of numerous literary and scientific associations. It contains a university (founded in 1872), with four faculties—theology, philosophy, law and medicine—frequented by about 1900 students in 1905; and amongst its other educational establishments are a seminary for Unitarian priests, an agricultural college, two training schools for teachers, a commercial academy, and several secondary schools for boys and girls. The industry comprises establishments for the manufacture of woollen and linen cloth, paper, sugar, candles, soap, earthenwares, as well as breweries and distilleries.
Kolozsvár is believed to occupy the site of a Roman settlement named Napoca. Colonized by Saxons in 1178, it then received its German name of Klausenburg, from the old word Klause, signifying a “mountain pass.” Between the years 1545 and 1570 large numbers of the Saxon population left the town in consequence of the introduction of Unitarian doctrines. In 1798 the town was to a great extent destroyed by fire. As capital of Transylvania and the seat of the Transylvanian diets, Kolozsvár from 1830 to 1848 became the centre of the Hungarian national movement in the grand principality; and in December 1848 it was taken and garrisoned by the Hungarians under General Bem.