Optical properties of GaN layers grown by the molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) and chloride-hydride vapor-phase epitaxy (CHVPE) have been studied, and the quality of two types of samples has been compared. The photoluminescence spectra have an excitonic nature for both types of layers. To determine precisely the nature of exciton transitions, the reflectance spectra were studied. A key point was the investigation of phonon-assisted exciton luminescence, which provides information on the density distribution of the exciton states. Temperature dependences of the exciton transition energy and the ratio of intensities of one- and two-phpnon replicas were studied. The high quality of both types of layers has been confirmed, though the concentration of acceptors in MBE-grown samples is higher than in CHVPE samples. © 2003 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".