Reformed Church on Farkas Street (Ulița Lupilor) in Cluj-Napoca

The Reformed Church on Farkas Street (Farkas utcai református templom in Hungarian, Ulița Lupilor in Romanian) stands on Mihail Kogălniceanu Street in the historic centre of Cluj, near the Tailors' Bastion. The street, one of the oldest in the city, appears in medieval documents as Platea Luporum (Wolves' Street). In 1486 the mayor and town council gave the land to the Franciscan friars, and construction of the church and friary began in 1487 with the support of King Matthias Corvinus and later of King Vladislaus II; the church was completed in 1510. After the Reformation the Franciscans were expelled, and in 1579 Prince Christopher Báthory gave the church to the Jesuits for the college they had founded in Cluj. In 1603 the vault was badly damaged during unrest in the town. In 1622 Prince Gabriel Bethlen and the Diet assigned the church to the Reformed community, and it was rebuilt between 1638 and 1645 at the initiative of Prince George I Rákóczi; it was reconsecrated on 30 June 1647. The church has a single nave, 34 m long and 15 m wide, with walls 19 m high, and is the largest Gothic hall church in Transylvania. Inside are the stone pulpit made in 1646 by the Sibiu masters Elias Nicolai and Benedikt Mueck, the organ on the western gallery, a rich collection of coats of arms of Transylvanian nobles and the monument to Prince Michael I Apafi made by Károly Kós in 1942. Organ concerts are held regularly in the church. In front of it stands a 1904 copy of the statue of Saint George slaying the dragon. The church is a category A historic monument, LMI code CJ-II-m-A-07380 (listed as "Biserica reformată Matia", 1486-1494, rebuilt 1644), and belongs to the Reformed Church. Did you know that the original of the Saint George statue in front of the church was cast in bronze in 1373 by the brothers Martin and George of Cluj and is kept today at Prague Castle, in the Old Royal Palace? Since 1967 a copy has stood in the castle's third courtyard, next to St. Vitus Cathedral. The Cluj copy was made in 1904 by the sculptor József Róna.