In time, the market had several names. The name was originally the Great Square market (while the old town center was called the Small Square).
Since 1869 officially became the Main Market. It was King Matei Square at the edge between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and Union Square between the wars.
From 1945 to 1999 it was Freedom Square, and after that returned to the name of Union Square between the wars.
Union Square, same as Avram Iancu Square, is one of the oldest, central ones of Cluj Napoca, with a long history and huge culture. The Square was renovated and now there is a pedestrian area much more generous that it used to be at the beginning.
Ones of the most important attractions are:
- Matei Corvin Monument
- St Michael Church
- The building of the old Continental Hotel
- The former building of the City Hall
- The National Bank of Romania
- University Bookstore
- Art Museum and Banffy Pallace
- The old Melody Hotel
Union Square is surrounded by many other buildings and former imposing palaces, such as:
- Rhedey Palace
- Josika Palace
- Wass Palace
- Roman Catholic Parish
- Twin Buildings
- Kakas Wolphard House
Over the past few years, Union Square was considered as a meeting point for young people from the city, because at the monument of Matei Corvin, behind the statue, „at the horse’s tail”, as this place it’s known among locals, the young people of Cluj Napoca meet here, no matter if it is during the night or during the day.
With the modernisation and widening of the pedestrian space, Union Square became a very important area for daily events in Cluj.
