Cluj has two operas and two national theatres, in two buildings. We measured all four

“Opera cluj”: 6,600 searches a month in Romania, 3,600 in Cluj. “Teatru cluj”: 3,600 nationally, 1,900 in the city. “Opera maghiara cluj”: 1,600 and 1,000. “Teatrul maghiar cluj”: 590 and 390. “Concert filarmonica cluj”: 390 and 390.

Together, those five phrasings alone clear 12,000 monthly searches. The three busiest galleries in the city — Aluvial, Atelier Patru, Galeria Parter — draw zero.

The practical queries are there too: “bilete teatru cluj” 260, “bilete opera cluj” 260, “spectacole cluj” 260, “balet cluj” 170.

Four institutions, two buildings, and each building is shared by a pair.

The “Lucian Blaga” National Theatre and the Romanian National Opera share the building at Piața Ștefan cel Mare 20, put up by the Viennese practice Fellner & Helmer.

The Hungarian State Theatre and the Hungarian Opera share the building at Strada Emil Isac 26–28, built between 1909 and 1910 by Jenő Janovics as a summer theatre.

So the city does not have “a theatre and an opera”. It has two complete sets, in two languages, each with its own building, its own audience and its own repertoire.

One thing the measurement shows and it is easy to miss: the Hungarian institutions draw 2,190 monthly searches in Romania between them. That is more than four times the most-searched gallery in this guide, and nearly seven times the most-searched independent space.

In a city where contemporary art is close to invisible in search, the performing arts are visible in both languages. And of the four institutions, the National Opera is the most-searched cultural institution in Cluj, of any kind.

Because it says where the attention is, not where we would like it to be. A guide to the creative scene in Cluj that covered only the galleries would miss the part of the city's culture the city actually looks for.

And because it forces a correction of tone on us. We have written about spaces with no website and no search demand. Alongside them, in the same city, four institutions run permanent companies, full seasons and online ticketing. Both are true at once.