Set of cup holders with reproductions of pieces of DACICE heritage – a. carved stone with a stylized head of an aquatic bird (architectural element discovered at Sarmizegetusa Regia); b. bronze bust supposed to be of a Dacian female divinity (discovered in Luncani – Piatra Roșie); c. ceramic bowl with ribs in relief, modeled by hand (discovered in Costești "Lazuri"); d. silver chain of braided links, with pendant (unknown locality in Transylvania); e. silver fibula (brooch) with knots (unknown locality in Transylvania); f. silver multi-spiral bracelet, with snake-shaped ends (unknown locality in Transylvania).

Set of cup holders with reproductions of some ROMAN heritage pieces – a. gilded statuette of the goddess Victoria with the role of a charioteer (Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, accidental discovery); b. votive plaque (offering) representing a female deity of Celtic origin (accidental discovery from Gherla); c. votive statuette representing a goat (discovered in Cluj-Napoca, Piața Unirii); d. equestrian parade mask (from the Roman fort at Gilău); e. situla-type bronze vessel with representations of athletes (from the Roman camp of Gilău); f. gold engagement ring with the representation of a couple (accidental discovery from Cristești)

Cup holder set with reproductions of some NUMISMATIC heritage pieces – a. Elisabeth I (Sissi), Empress of Austria, coronation medal as Queen of Hungary, gold, 1867; b. Eleonora Magdalena Gonzaga, Empress of Austria, coronation medal as Queen of Hungary, silver gilt, 1655; c. Great Medallion of the Coronation of Ferdinand and Mary as Kings of Greater Romania, 1922; d. Greek coin, Corcyra (Corfu), silver, hemistater, c. bc; e. Dacian tradrachm, Philip II type coin imitation, silver, c. III BC; f. IN TEMPESTATE SECVRITAS type medal, silver, Kremnitz, Ugaria, c. XVIII. Inspired by the duchy of Christian Herman Roth (1645-1690).

04.06.2020

The Wolphard-Kakas House in Cluj-Napoca is one of the few Renaissance houses in Cluj that are still standing and that still retain some of the original Renaissance elements. Although the facade was rebuilt in the 19th century, many of the elements of the original facade are currently in the lapidary of the National History Museum of Transylvania. More about this house and about those who built it in an interview with Mihály Melinda, art historian and museographer at MNIT.

25.05.2020

Today we are talking about the year 1989 and the exhibition Cluj 1989.21.12. On this occasion, Ovidiu Moldovan conducted an interview with Radu Negru, a participant in the events of December 21, 1989, in Cluj, which evokes the moment in Piața Unirii, where several demonstrators were injured and killed by the volleys of bullets. In a selective montage, Dr. Ioana Gruiță, the curator of the exhibition, describes the most important exhibits and part of the concept that the team of museographers and conservators of MNIT put on stage, through the exhibition organized yesterday to commemorate 30 years since the Romanian revolution.

22.05.2020

Our journey through time took us to Cluj in 1918, a period from which an object with an interesting story, located in the museum's collection, dates. Dr. Ioan Cârjă, from Babeș-Bolyai University, outlines the general framework of the events, and our colleague, Dr. Ovidiu Munteanu, tells us the story of this panel with the inscription, which, together with the tricolor flag, was put up on the premises of the National Senate Romanian from Transylvania, located in the Economul Bank building, on November 12, 1918. The panel was made by Sidonia Docan, who was "leading sister of the Red Cross", but also secretary of the Senate. Our colleague Pompei Grapini talks to us about this piece, from the point of view of the restoration specialist.

13.05.2020

In the Transylvania of the 17th and 18th centuries, the nobles traveled quite a lot and always had chests with medicines with them, for adequate treatment, if needed. The Pharmacy History Collection in Cluj has in its heritage such an artifact, which belonged to Terézia Kemény. The chest, with many drawers and compartments, is precious in that it keeps all the bottles, each with the name (in Latin and Hungarian) of the substance it contained, and some of them also preserved the medicine inside: mustard seeds, used bezoars in case of poisoning and many others, about which we learn from our colleague Dr. Ana Maria Gruia. Dr. Márta Guttmann tells us about the secrets of the substances present in these vials, and Dr. Diana Varga tells us the story of Terézia Kemény and her family. If you are fascinated by the history of the pharmacy, on the facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/colectiefarmacluj) and on the collection blog (http://farmacluj.blogspot.com) you can find every day super interesting posts about diseases and their remedies, containers, medical tools and many other curiosities related to this field.

11.05.2020

In the Middle Ages, the law was enforced by means of quite harsh punishments, one of which was beheading. The National History Museum of Transylvania keeps in its collection the executioner's sword of the city of Cluj, which dates back to the 16th century, a sword with a broad blade, with a slightly rounded tip, with two edges and a long handle, covered in leather, which he was holding on with both hands. How it was used, according to which law and who could be beheaded, historian Andrei Fărcaș tells us. Dr. Diana Varga tells us about the punitive mechanisms in Transylvania of the Middle Ages in the context of the medieval legal system and thus we learn that the city of Cluj had "jus gladii", meaning the right to apply capital punishment, a privilege granted by the king to important cities. Our colleague also tells us about some instruments of penance from the museum collection, used in the environment of Catholic monks, for self-flagellation.

8.05.2020

The Pharmacy History Collection is well-known both for its exhibits and for the building in the center of Cluj that houses them. Among the most beloved objects in the collection are the bottles for the Elixir of Love, very popular especially around Valentine's Day. The collection contains four hand-painted glass containers with different romantic representations (hearts, facing doves, couples, flowers) made in a factory in Transylvania in the middle of the 18th century. Dr. Ana Maria Gruia tells us about them, about their contents and about the various ingredients used for the preparation of elixirs. Dr. Felix Marcu, the museum manager, and architect Endre Ványoló talk to us about the situation of the building, its history and how it will look after the extensive restoration workss , which is coordinating the restoration of the building and the murals. If you are fascinated by the history of the pharmacy, on the facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/colectiefarmacluj) and on the collection blog (http://farmacluj.blogspot.com) you can find every day super interesting posts about diseases and their remedies, containers, medical tools and many other curiosities related to this field.

6.05.2020

After the triumphal entry into Alba Iulia, Mihai Viteazul had a monetary issue, with a rather small circulation, of which only one original piece is preserved, in Vienna, and very few later copies, one of which is part of the numismatic collection of National History Museum of Transylvania. The museum copy, made by a German engraver around 1825, differs in weight from the Vienna original. Dr. Livia Călian tells us about all this, about the context in which this medal appeared, but also about the portrait on the piece issued in 1600, which is probably the closest to the real appearance of Mihi Vitezul. Dr. Claudia Bonța tells us about medals and the art of engraving in the Baroque period, the golden age of medalism, in which many masterpieces of the genre were made.

4.05.2020

Today we are talking about a special object from the museum's collection, a transparent glass decanter, produced in the Porumbacu glass workshop in the 1619th century. The artifact is a good pretext for a discussion about the history of glass, and Dr. Ana Maria Gruia tells us about the origins of the technology, but also about the famous Murano glass, produced in Venice since the XNUMXth century. Dr. Andrea Demjén tells us about the Prumbacu glass workshop, whose activity is documented in the first half of the XNUMXth century, in the Făgăraș County. In XNUMX, Venetian craftsmen who knew how to produce high-quality glass were brought there, and thus we learn more about the reasons why the object kept at the museum has an important historical value for Transylvania.

2.05.2020

In medieval times, if you lived in Claudiopolis/Kolozsvár/Clausenburg, owned a house or land and paid your taxes, then you could call yourself a full-fledged townsman. Depending on the trade they practised, the townspeople organized themselves in craft associations, called guilds. The guilds had an economic, political and administrative role in the life of the city and they also ensured the costs of defense and renovation of the fortification system. Our colleague Dr. Diana Iegar tells us about the most powerful guilds in Cluj and how you could become a member of such a guild. Ioana Cova, conservator of the museum, tells us about the way of exhibiting a special object, a book of the goldsmiths' guild from Cluj, which dates back to the 16th century.

29.04.2020

One of the exhibitions recently organized by MNIT, which brought together the most spectacular pieces of clothing and jewelry from the museum's pre-modern collection, was Cornucopia. Luxury in the Transylvanian noble world. Dr. Diana Iegar, the curator of the exhibition, today tells us the story of some pieces of clothing and jewelry made by hand, discovered in the crypt of the reformed church at Cetatea de Balta, where Sofia Kendi, the wife of the Transylvanian aristocrat Melchior Bogathi, his mother and grandmother were buried . These were discovered during the renovation of the church, in 1897. Dr. Ana Maria Gruia gives us more details about the specifics of artistic productions in Transylvania in the XNUMXth century, and Ioana Cova, textile restorer and conservator, tells us about how particularly fragile and precious textile heritage objects are strengthened and restored.

27.04.2020

So far, I have talked about Cluj in the Roman period, about beliefs, about objects of daily life, but I have not told you how far the borders of the province stretched after the Roman conquest, because not the entire territory of today's Romania was part of Roman Dacia. The fortified border of the Roman Empire, called limes, had a total of 5000 km, of which approximately 1500 km were on the territory of our country.

Dr. Felix Marcu, the manager of the MNIT, but also the president of the Limes National Commission, tells us more about the extremely complex system of fortifications (towers, earthworks, walls, small fortifications, castles) that the Roman Empire built on the territory Romania. Dr. George Cupcea, tells us about the troops stationed on the limes, which had a role of surveillance and customs clearance of the most important access routes to Transylvania, and Dr. Ioan Opriș tells us about the reasons why the Romanians withdrew from these territories.