Cluj is the fastest-renovating city in Romania, and that is bad news for urbex. Carbochim has become the RIVUS real estate project, the Clujana factory halls are turning into a creative hub, and Bánffy Castle in Bonțida has been reborn as the stage of the Electric Castle festival. The stock of abandoned buildings melts away year after year, so the rule of the game is simple: explore while it still exists. Our map holds over 233,000 geolocated spots in more than 200 countries, including more than 1,100 abandoned places in Romania and 45 in Cluj County. From those we picked three abandoned places that sum up the city perfectly in 2026: a locked Belle Époque palace right in the centre, a spa resort swallowed by reeds and a Renaissance castle guarded by stone unicorns. You will find the national top in our pillar article on abandoned places in Romania.
Abandoned places in Cluj: why Urbex Maps changes the game
Most websites promising "free urbex spots" end up charging you on forums for the exact address. We do the opposite. Under every location in this article you get an "Add to my map" button: one click and the exact GPS coordinates are saved to your personal space, free, no credit card required. Since 2021, a community of over 40,000 explorers has checked every coordinate at least twice before publication. The three spots below are ranked by visual impact and historical weight, and you can then open each one on the free urbex map or in your personal map. The rest of the county is waiting for you on the map of abandoned places in Romania.
The 3 abandoned places in Cluj at a glance
| Spot | County/Area | Type | Access 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continental Hotel (New York Palace) | Cluj-Napoca, Piața Unirii | Belle Époque palace and hotel | Off-limits, viewed from the street |
| Băile Someșeni (Someșeni Baths) | Cluj-Napoca, near the airport | Interwar spa resort | Open/tolerated |
| Kornis Castle | Mănăstirea, near Dej | Renaissance castle | Open ruin, private property |
1. Continental Hotel (New York Palace): the clean-facade ruin on Piața Unirii
At first glance it does not look abandoned at all, and that is exactly the shock. The New York Palace, built in 1894 to the plans of architect Lajos Pákey, was the social heart of Cluj: on the ground floor, the New York café was the city's Belle Époque salon, the meeting place of Transylvania's writers, lawyers and bohemians. Renamed the Continental Hotel in the communist era, it remained a hotel until 2005, when it closed and never reopened. The facades were cleaned around 2016, so the tidy backdrop fools the tourists, but behind the locked doors the interiors have been rotting for two decades, with fallen plaster and mouldy ballrooms.
The deadlock is purely legal: Napocamin, the company that owns the building, went bankrupt, and the sale is stuck in court at least until 2027. In 2026 the case became national news when the Tate brothers announced they wanted to buy the palace, and the city hall responded by invoking the state's right of first refusal. Until that battle is settled, the Continental remains the most visible of the abandoned places in Cluj-Napoca: a monument in agony ten metres from the packed terraces of Piața Unirii. There is no going in here, the building is locked and monitored, so admire it from the street and document it from the outside. You will find the city's other ruins on the map of abandoned places in Cluj-Napoca.
2. Băile Someșeni: the spa resort swallowed by reeds
On the eastern edge of the city, right next to the airport, lies one of the saddest spa stories in Transylvania. Băile Someșeni (the Someșeni Baths) opened in 1927 under professor Dominic Stanca, who built a modern resort here around the mineral springs. In 1949 the state nationalised everything, and Stanca was banned from entering his own resort. Today the pavilions have collapsed and the pools have been swallowed by reeds, but the springs still flow among the ruins, as if waiting for spa guests who no longer come. The land is caught in a dispute between heirs, and in June 2025 the urban planning commission rejected a real estate project that locals nicknamed "a spa mall painted green". Access is open or at least tolerated: go in daylight, step carefully on the rotten structures and leave nothing behind. The rest of the county is one click away on the map of Romania.
3. Kornis Castle: the unicorn castle near Dej
About 55 km from Cluj, near Dej, the village of Mănăstirea hides the most romantic of the abandoned places in the county. Kornis Castle, built between 1573 and 1593 in full Renaissance style, once housed a library of 9,000 volumes and served as a film set for Michael Curtiz, the future director of Casablanca, who shot here in 1914. After 1944 the castle was ransacked, then turned into a collective farm, and today sheep graze peacefully in its moat. The famous stone unicorns from 1720, the emblem of the gate, were knocked down during a failed theft in September 2016 and have been hidden away by the owner ever since. Local legends list it among Transylvania's haunted places, but the reality is more prosaic: an open ruin on private property, where you enter at your own risk. Be respectful, do not climb the walls and leave only footprints. You will find the surroundings on the map of abandoned places around Dej.
Urbex in Cluj-Napoca: frequently asked questions
Why are the urbex spots in Cluj disappearing?
Because the city is living through the most aggressive real estate boom in the country. The former Carbochim factory has become the RIVUS development, the Clujana halls are being converted into offices and event spaces, and Bánffy Castle in Bonțida was saved by the Transylvania Trust and now hosts Electric Castle. Good news for heritage, bad news for explorers: whatever you do not document now stands every chance of disappearing or being renovated within a few years.
Is urbex legal in Romania?
Looking at and photographing an abandoned building from public space is perfectly legal. Almost all of these places have an owner, though, and entering without permission can qualify as trespassing. We do not encourage breaking in: do not force doors or fences, take nothing, and if you are asked to leave, leave. The golden rule remains "take only photos, leave only footprints".
Can you visit the Continental Hotel?
No. The building is locked, monitored and tied up in the Napocamin bankruptcy proceedings, so any entry is illegal. The good news is that the most spectacular part, the facade of the New York Palace, can be admired for free from Piața Unirii, and the legal saga is easier to follow in the press than from inside.
Is Bánffy Castle in Bonțida still abandoned?
Not anymore. The "Versailles of Transylvania" was taken over by the Transylvania Trust, is under continuous restoration and became famous as the venue of the Electric Castle festival. You visit it with a ticket, as a tourist attraction, so you will not find it on our list of abandoned places. It is the perfect example of a ruin that found its second life.
How do you get the GPS coordinates of these places?
Every spot in the article has a card with an "Add to my map" button. One click and the exact GPS coordinates are saved for free to your personal map, no credit card required. You can then open them on the free urbex map and build your route across the county.
What other abandoned places are worth seeing near Cluj?
A quiet contender is the Teleki Tower in Luna de Jos, a medieval bell tower linked to the noble Teleki family, less than an hour from the city. Beyond it, Cluj County holds 45 geolocated spots on the map of abandoned places in Cluj-Napoca, from industrial halls to forgotten manors.
Explore the map of abandoned places in Romania
The locked palace, the resort drowned in reeds and the castle without its unicorns tell, together, the story of Romania after 1989: deindustrialisation, restitutions stuck in the courts for years and scrap metal cut away piece by piece. Cluj has the advantage, or the curse, of repairing itself faster than the rest of the country, so the window for exploring is closing before your eyes. On the map of abandoned places in Romania, more than 1,100 geolocated spots are waiting for you, and the series continues with Bucharest, Timișoara, Iași and Constanța, plus the national top of abandoned places. Add your favourites to your map and hit the road, with respect for the places and care for yourself.