Few the tourists who visit Cluj-Napoca and even locals will miss a climb on the “Fortress Hill” (Dealul Cetatuia), in order to admire one of the best panoramas of the city and the surrounding hills, rivers and even mountains.

With an altitude of 405 meters above sea level, and 60 m above the city, the hill got its name from the Austrian fortress built there, the oldest representative of baroque secular architecture in Transylvania. Dominating the historical canter of the city, the fortress was built in the 18th century, in order to ensure the control of the city, more than for defensive purposes, occasionally serving as a prison.

The head of the Transylvanian army, count of Steinville, began in 1715 the construction of the military complex of buildings and walls, following the plans of military architect Giovanni Visconti. The construction was finished in 1735. The enclosure, in the form of an irregular polygon, was bordered by an embankment and provided with bulwarks. The main access gate was the eastern gate. The land slides brought about the demolition of the western gate. They were topped by buildings, which served as offices, accommodation for officers and an ammunition depot.

In the prison that functioned at the fortress, Stephan Ludwig Roth, the 1848 hero of the Transylvanian Saxons, was held, accused of high treason and killed at the northern gate, on the 11th of May 1849. This gate of the fortress bears a commemorative plaque - as a testimony of the martyrdom of Stephan Ludwig Roth, the 1848 hero of the Transylvanian Saxons.

The “Transylvania” Hotel dominates the top of the hill, and, close to it, a 26 meter high Cross was placed in 1995, in order to replace the cross destroyed in 1950.