Napoca

Napoca is the ancient Roman name for the settlement located at the site of the modern city of Cluj-Napoca in northwestern Romania’s Transylvania region. The settlement was established in Dacia after the Roman conquest in the early 2nd century AD, near the Someș River. It developed as a local urban center with infrastructure typical of Roman towns, and archaeological remains indicate the presence of public buildings, streets, and a necropolis. Napoca remained inhabited into late antiquity, but like much of Roman Dacia, the area experienced decline after the withdrawal of Roman administration in the 270s. The toponym Napoca appears in inscriptions and medieval documents, and it persisted as a recognizable local name in the region.

In the modern era Napoca is best known as the historic root of the city now called Cluj-Napoca. The city is a major urban, educational, and cultural center in Transylvania and serves as the seat of Cluj County. In 1974, authorities adopted the name Cluj-Napoca by combining Cluj, the contemporary urban core, with Napoca to reflect the locality’s Roman heritage. The name Napoca, while not used as a separate city in present-day administration, remains a key element of the city’s identity and of Roman-Dacia’s history. Archaeological sites and museums in Cluj-Napoca preserve and interpret Napoca’s origins, connecting the ancient settlement with the modern metropolis.