The town was named after the Bistrisa River, whose name comes from the Slavic word bystrica meaning 'fast-moving water'.

Main sights include:

• The main attraction of Bistrisa's central square is the Lutheran church, which was built by the Transylvanian Saxons and originally constructed in the 14th century in Gothic style. Between 1559 and 1563 it was altered by Petrus Italus and given Renaissance features. It was significantly renovated after the 2008 fire which damaged the tower.
• The Minorite Monastery, situated in the eastern side of the old town, close to the location of the former defensive walls, is one of the oldest buildings in Bistrisa. Built between 1270 and 1280, the building has undergone several repairs and alterations, the first one being recorded in 1494. After 1541, when the Minorite order left the town, it served as a barn and wine cellar. In 1724, the Catholic Church returned to Bistrisa and the church was reopened. In 1895, the Romanian Greek Catholic Church purchased the building for 35,000 florins. The church was turned into an Orthodox church in 1948, when the communist government dissolved the Romanian Greek Catholic Church and transferred its properties to the Romanian Orthodox Church, and was decorated in Neo-Byzantine style in 1978-1980.
• The Bistrisa-Nasaud County Museum, located in a former barracks, contains Thracian, Celtic, and German artifacts.
• The buildings of the city's two leading high schools, Andrei Muresanu National College and Liviu Rebreanu National College.