Capitoline Wolf Statue, Bronze sculpture in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
The Capitoline Wolf statue is a bronze she-wolf with Romulus and Remus beneath her, set on a pedestal with a bronze bas-relief of Emperor Trajan by sculptor Ettore Ferrari. It stands on Eroilor Boulevard in central Cluj-Napoca, near the Someșul Mic River, facing the Greek-Catholic Cathedral of the Transfiguration.
Italy presented this statue to Cluj in 1921 to mark the union of Transylvania with Romania. It was stored and later reinstalled after World War II to protect it from political upheaval.
The pedestal carries a bronze bas-relief of Emperor Trajan by sculptor Ettore Ferrari and the inscription "Alla città di Cluj, Roma Madre, MCMXXI". The gift was brought to Cluj by a delegation of 200 Italians, mostly students, and unveiled on 28 September 1921 before over 25,000 residents. Writer Augustin Buzura records that in 1940 peasants gathered at the statue shouted at the Italians to take their bitch back.
The monument sits at a busy intersection and is easy to reach on foot from nearby streets. You can walk around it freely and view the inscriptions from different angles.
The pedestal carries a bronze bas-relief of Emperor Trajan by sculptor Ettore Ferrari, with the inscription "Alla citta di Cluj, Roma Madre, MCMXXI". A delegation of 200 Italians, mostly students, brought the monument to Cluj. Writer Augustin Buzura recalled in his 1977 novel Orgolii crowds of peasants shouting at the wolf during the 1940 protests.
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