THE ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION OF PRESENT CLUJ COUNTY BETWEEN 1541 AND 1848

Abstract

The administrative organisation is one of the most important spatial planning actions, because it directly determines spatial configurations and polarizing relations, while concentrating local government institutions into cities and towns which are becoming more prominent as a result of them being designated as administrative centres. This paper attempts to reconstruct the administrative divisions and the ranking of settlements of present Cluj County between 1541 and 1848. Included almost entirely in the Principality of Transylvania, the area of present Cluj County was mainly covered, from North to South, by the counties of Solnocu Interior (Inner Solnoc), Dăbâca, Cluj and Turda. The Szekler seat of Arieș covered a small part in the South and Bihor County (in the Kingdom of Hungary) covered a very small part in the West of present Cluj County. Their limits remained largely the same over a very long period of time. The counties of Solnocu Interior, Dăbâca, Cluj and Turda extended a lot to the West and East of present Cluj County, but their seats were all located here: Dej (Solnocu Interior County), Bonțida (Dăbâca County), Cluj and Turda, to which one may add Gherla, that had the highest status, just like Cluj, that of free royal city, and had an administration of its own. All counties were divided into two districts, an Upper District and a Lower District, and the districts, in their turn, were further divided into circles (smaller districts). Cluj, Gherla, Turda and Dej have retained their importance throughout several centuries up until today, and their historical heritage and prominence still plays an important part in the present regional framework.