
The medieval and pre-modern lapidary is the largest collection of its kind in the country, composed of funerary, architectural and sculptural monuments from the 13th-19th centuries, originating from acquisitions, donations, demolitions and from systematic or rescue archaeological excavations.
The formation of the lapidary is closely related to the activity of the Ardelean Museum Society, the forerunner of the current museum, which, starting from the second half of the 19th century, initiated the systematic collection of architectural elements from the demolition of Transylvanian monuments, predominantly from the historic center of Cluj.
The medieval and pre-modern lapidary collection is composed of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance architectural monuments, Baroque sculptural monuments, a vast collection of Renaissance funerary monuments and a collection of plaster copies of various types of medieval funerary and sculptural monuments from Transylvania.
The most significant part of the collection is made up of the architectural monuments from the houses of the Cluj Renaissance, among which we find portal and window frames, fireplaces, a series of consoles, balusters and archways, some marked with coats of arms or monograms their owners.