# Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University

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> A university museum founded in 1859, in a building on Strada Clinicilor: bird dioramas, 19th-century butterfly and spider collections and an exhibition running from sponges to mammals.

**At a glance:** Museums and memorial houses in Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County. Opening hours: Monday closed, Tuesday–Friday 10:00 – 16:00, Saturday–Sunday 10:00 – 14:00. Ticket: 20 lei. The visit takes ½ – 1 hours. Information verified on 7 November 2026.

## Key facts

- **Opening hours:** Monday closed, Tuesday–Friday 10:00 – 16:00, Saturday–Sunday 10:00 – 14:00 — Closed on Mondays. Tuesday to Friday 10:00–16:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00–14:00.
- **Ticket:** 20 lei — pupils, pensioners 10 lei
- **Visit duration:** ½ – 1 hours — about an hour, estimate
- **With kids:** Yes — dioramas and stuffed animals
- **Parking:** Yes, paid — on the surrounding streets
- **Best season:** All year round — open all year
- **Address:** Strada Clinicilor 5-7, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County
- **Coordinates:** 46.76399, 23.57997
- **Phone:** +40 264 598 700
- **Website:** https://muzee.ubbcluj.ro/muzeeubb/muzeul-zoologic/
- **Wikipedia:** https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muzeul_Zoologic_din_Cluj-Napoca
- **Wikidata:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20429846
- **Categories:** [Museums and memorial houses](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/museums-and-memorial-houses)

## About Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University

The Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University was founded in 1859 as a department of the Transylvanian Museum and holds some of the oldest zoological collections in south-eastern Europe. Today it occupies, over about 700 m², the ground floor of the Faculty of Biology and Geology building on Strada Clinicilor, at the edge of the Mikó Garden in Cluj-Napoca. It remains above all a teaching museum, but it is open to every visitor.

The permanent exhibition is arranged by complexity, from the simplest animals to mammals, and spreads over three rooms linked by a diorama hall.

### What you can see

The first room holds the invertebrates (sponges, cnidarians, worms, molluscs, crustaceans, insects, echinoderms), then fish, amphibians and reptiles; most exhibits are preserved in liquid, and thematic insect cases show butterfly camouflage and mimicry or the stages of silk production. The second room is devoted to birds and mammals, with display cases by family, nests and eggs, and taxidermied specimens.

The diorama hall has six large dioramas (the Danube Delta, a heron colony, birds of prey by day, the fauna of the plains, surviving the winter) and a micro-diorama with 45 hummingbirds. The museum's scientific collections, not all of them on display, include the oldest butterfly collection in Romania, assembled by Joseph von Franzenau (first catalogue, 1850), and the spiders studied by Ottó Herman.

### Good to know

The entrance is in the faculty building, on Strada Clinicilor. For groups, free thematic guided tours are organised where possible, in Romanian, Hungarian and English.

## Don't miss

- Six large dioramas, from the Danube Delta to the heron colony and birds of prey, with a micro-diorama of 45 hummingbirds.
- An exhibition that follows animal evolution from sponges to mammals, in three rooms.
- The Joseph von Franzenau butterfly collection, the oldest in Romania (first catalogue, 1850).
- Liquid-preserved exhibits: fish, reptiles, crustaceans and spiders in tubes sealed with beeswax.
- The collection of bird nests and eggs (about 3,500 pieces in storage).

## Good to know before you go

### Getting there

**On foot:** from Piața Unirii it is ~1.1 km, about 15 minutes, along the streets of the centre towards the Mikó Garden. **By car:** ~1.2 km from Piața Unirii (~3 minutes), but spaces are few in the central area. The museum is on the ground floor of the Faculty of Biology and Geology building, Strada Clinicilor 5-7, next to the Mikó Garden.

### Where to park

On the streets around the university buildings parking is paid and spaces are few on weekdays; 10–15 minutes' walk away, in the centre, there are also public car parks.

### Fees & discounts

Adult ticket 20 lei; pupils, students and pensioners 10 lei; family ticket (2 adults and a child, further children enter free) 45 lei. Admission is free for UBB students and staff (with their card), for children under 3 and for people with disabilities. Tickets can also be bought online.

### Rules

The visit is self-guided; for groups, free thematic guided tours can be arranged where possible, in Romanian, Hungarian and English. Do not touch the display cases or the exhibits and follow the staff's instructions.

### Facilities

online tickets · thematic guided tours for groups, in Romanian, Hungarian and English

## Details

- **Collection type:** zoology
- **Guided tour:** Yes

## Frequently asked questions about Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University

**How much is a ticket to Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University?**

A ticket to Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University costs 20 lei (pupils, pensioners 10 lei). More under “Fees & discounts”.

**What are the opening hours of Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University?**

Opening hours at Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University: Monday closed, Tuesday–Friday 10:00 – 16:00, Saturday–Sunday 10:00 – 14:00. More under “Opening hours”.

**How long does a visit to Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University take?**

A visit to Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University takes about ½ – 1 hours (about an hour, estimate).

**Can you visit Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University with kids?**

Yes, Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University is suitable for children (dioramas and stuffed animals).

**Where can I park at Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University?**

There is paid parking at Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University (on the surrounding streets). More under “Where to park”.

**How do I get to Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University?**

Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University is located at Strada Clinicilor 5-7, Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County. More under “Getting there”.

**When is the best time to visit Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University?**

The best season for Zoological Museum of Babeș-Bolyai University: All year round (open all year).

## Nearby attractions

- [Alexandru Borza Botanical Garden](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/alexandru-borza-botanical-garden) — Parks and gardens · Cluj-Napoca, CJ · 21 lei · 1½ – 2 hours · 1 km
  The botanical garden of Babeș-Bolyai University, on almost 14 hectares in the south of Cluj: a Japanese garden with a tea house on a lake, greenhouses more than 60 years old, a water tower and a botanical museum.
- [Central Park “Simion Bărnuțiu”](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/central-park-simion-barnutiu) — Parks and gardens · Cluj-Napoca, CJ · Free · 1 – 1½ hours · 1 km
  Cluj's historic park, laid out from 1838 on the bank of the Someșul Mic, with Lake Chios, the old Casino, the music pavilion and a central avenue between old trees; locals call it the Big Park.
- [Holy Trinity Church on the Hill (Biserica din Deal)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/holy-trinity-church-on-the-hill) — Churches · Cluj-Napoca, CJ · 30 min · 1 km
  Cluj's first Orthodox church, a Baroque building of 1795–1796 with an octagonal nave, an iconostasis painted in 1796 and a churchyard with an old Orthodox cemetery.
- [Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/ethnographic-museum-of-transylvania) — Museums and memorial houses · Cluj-Napoca, CJ · 1 – 1½ hours · 1 km
  The permanent folk culture exhibition in the Reduta Palace, the building in central Cluj where the Memorandum Trial was held: tools, costumes, ceramics and textiles from Transylvanian villages.
- [National Museum of Transylvanian History](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/national-museum-of-transylvanian-history) — Museums and memorial houses · Cluj-Napoca, CJ · 33 lei · ½ – 1 hours · 1 km
  Cluj's museum of history and archaeology, in the building on Piața Muzeului: the exhibition “Untold Treasures”, the Roman Lapidarium and the Medieval Lapidarium, from the museum's collections of over 450,000 items.
- [Piața Unirii (Union Square)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/piata-unirii) — Monuments and historic sites · Cluj-Napoca, CJ · Free · 30 min · 1 km
  The central square of Cluj, with the Gothic St Michael's Church, the 1902 equestrian statue of Matthias Corvinus and the façades of the Bánffy Palace and the surrounding houses.

## Featured in the guides

- [Things to do in Cluj-Napoca: what to see in 1–2 days, in the city and nearby](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/guides/things-to-do-in-cluj-napoca) — Union Square and St Michael's, Bánffy Palace (16 lei), the free Firemen's Tower, Cetățuia, the Botanical Garden, the Ethnographic Park. Winter hours, day trips.

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Last updated: 7 November 2026
Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania