On Cetățuia hill, starting with the 18th century, the fortress of the Habsburg army garrison was built. The Vauban-style fortress also served as a prison, and in 1848, Pastor Stephan Ludwing Roth, the leader of the German community in Transylvania, was imprisoned and executed in this fortress by order of the Hungarian revolution leader, L. Kossuth. In the interwar period, between 1936-1937, the Greek-Catholic bishop, Iuliu Hossu, built a crucifix here in memory of those imprisoned in this fortress for the defense of national ideas, on the same location being then built the current monument.
On December 1, 1997, on the occasion of the Romania national day celebration, the current monument was inaugurated, known as the Cross of the “Nation’s Heroes”. The monument is the work of the architect Virgil Salvanu, it is 23 m high and approximately 60 tons weight.