PRESS RELEASE:

Cluj-Napoca, March 14, 2025: The National Museum of Transylvania History (MNIT) signed, on 07.03.2025, the contract for the construction of the Museum Complex – Historical Gallery of Transylvania, marking a landmark moment for Romanian culture and offering a necessary solution for the management, conservation, security and valorization of Transylvania’s cultural heritage. This initiative comes in response to the acute lack of space and adequate infrastructure for the storage and restoration of movable heritage. The complex will be built in Florești commune, Cluj county, on land made available by Florești City Hall, in an area with direct access to the “Girl’s Fortress”, an important heritage site that is to be enhanced.

The financing of the investment project is carried out from non-reimbursable external funds related to Component 11. Tourism and Culture of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), as well as from the state budget through the budget of the Ministry of Culture (code 126444), within the limits of the amounts approved annually for this purpose. Also, the financing can be supplemented from other legally established sources, according to the public investment programs approved according to the law. The investment amounts to approximately 145,8 million lei, began on October 1, 2021 and has a completion date of June 30, 2026.

"The new museum will be an interactive and dynamic center, dedicated to protecting and researching, educating and promoting the region's cultural heritage, based on adequate management of the collections. The valorization and protection of the collections will take place in modern spaces, optimized for investigation, restoration, conservation, storage and exhibition activities. The project also provides for relaxation areas, green spaces, parking lots and specially arranged places for holding cultural and educational events", says Felix Marcu, MNIT Manager.

The need for a new museum also became evident due to the overcrowding of the storage facilities located in the basement of the current museum in Cluj, currently 100% occupied. In addition, the restoration laboratories on Calea Turzii operate in improper conditions, inadequate for carrying out such a complex activity as heritage restoration. This reality required the identification of a viable solution, and the project for a new museum complex was outlined several years ago, but identifying a suitable land was a challenge.

The current headquarters of the institution, located on Constantin Daicoviciu Street no. 2, is also unsuitable for carrying out museum functions, not being adapted to the requirements of contemporary museology. The ensemble of buildings, built at the end of the XNUMXth century and the beginning of the XNUMXth century, was not designed to function as a museum. “A modern museum must have a building specially designed for this purpose, with adequate, properly equipped spaces, restoration laboratories in accordance with current standards and exhibition halls that meet the requirements of conservation and presentation, all made to high standards, in accordance with museum ethics,” continues Felix Marcu.

In the last ten years, numerous successful projects have been developed in Europe, which have served as a model for this approach. Starting from the best practices in the field, a design theme was developed and a feasibility study was carried out. An essential step in shaping this project was the support offered by the Florești City Hall, which made available a generous area of ​​land, with direct access to the medieval fortress known as "Cetatea Fetei", an important built heritage site, still undervalued.

The National Museum of Transylvanian History (MNIT) has been preserving and valorizing, for over 150 years, essential values ​​of Transylvanian civilization, continuing the principles formulated by its founders: knowledge and promotion of Transylvanian culture, support and material development of museum heritage. Currently, MNIT holds an impressive collection, made up of over 460.000 cultural assets, including archaeological, historical, numismatic, documentary, memorial and artistic artifacts, making it one of the most important history museums in Romania. However, the existing spaces are insufficient and require major investments to ensure optimal conservation conditions, such as temperature and humidity control systems, adequate ventilation, mobile modular furniture, redevelopment of access spaces, as well as the provision of modern equipment for the handling and mechanized transport of heritage objects.

For more details: Adrian B. Gog, PR Representative, adrian.gog@prandmore.ro, 0757355675