Tailors' Bastion, Cluj-Napoca

The Tailors' Bastion (Hungarian Szabók bástyája or Bethlen-bástya) stands at 35 Baba Novac Street in central Cluj-Napoca, a few hundred metres south-east of Unirii Square. It marked the south-eastern corner of the second defensive wall of the medieval town. The name comes from the tailors' guild, which was responsible for maintaining and guarding this section of the wall; each tower of the walls was entrusted to a different guild. The bastion is first mentioned in documents in 1475. In 1627 lightning ignited the gunpowder stored inside and the explosion destroyed the structure. It was rebuilt at the town's expense between 1627 and 1629, under Prince Gabriel Bethlen, to plans by the Italian architect Giacomo Resti, and took its present form at that time. It was damaged in sieges and fighting in the 17th and 18th centuries and repaired by imperial troops in 1709, after which it long served as a military store. Near it, in 1601, the impaled body of Baba Novac, captain of Michael the Brave, was displayed after his execution in Cluj. Today you see a massive five-sided stone building on three levels, with firing slits, a plaque bearing Bethlen's coat of arms on the east side and, to the north, a stretch of the town wall with battlements and a wall walk. The bastion was restored in 1924 and 1959, and again between 2007 and 2009, when it was fitted out as a cultural venue (the Centre for Urban Culture), with a conference room and exhibition spaces; today it hosts exhibitions and events. In front of it stands, since 1975, the statue of Baba Novac by sculptor Virgil Fulicea. It is a short walk from Unirii Square or Avram Iancu Square. The bastion is a category A historic monument, LMI code CJ-II-m-A-07271, and is part of the urban ensemble "Historic centre of the city of Cluj". Did you know that today's bastion exists because of a lightning strike? On 27 August 1627 lightning hit the old tower and the 12 barrels of gunpowder kept inside exploded, bringing it down completely. The bastion we see today was rebuilt right afterwards, by 1629.