The Citadel is the first Vauban-type star shape fortification in Transylvania. The construction of the fortress located up the hill on the left bank of SomeÅŸ were made between 1715-1735. The plan of the fortress was made by the architect Giovanni Morando Visconti, also the builder of Alba-Iulia fortress. Inside the fortress there were various administrative buildings, a garrison and an armory.
The fortification was built with the main purpose of ensuring control over Cluj-Napoca municipality, after the passage of Transylvania under austrian rule, but it was often used also as a prison, especially during the Revolution of 1848. Here was imprisoned and executed the well known Pastor Stephan Ludwig Roth, one of the heroes of the Revolution.
Currently, there is a park on the site of the fortress, only three buildings being preserved from the fort. Also on the Citadel hill a cross was built between 1994-1997, dedicated to the heroes of the nation.