Cluster size effects in core excitons below the N 1s ionization energy of nitrogen clusters are reported in the energy regime 405-410 eV. These results are compared to the molecular Rydberg states as well as the corresponding bulk excitons of condensed nitrogen. The experimental results are assigned using ab initio calculations. It is found that the lowest excitons (N 1s-->3ssigma and N 1s-->3ppi) are blueshifted relative to the molecular Rydberg transitions, whereas others (N 1s-->3dpi and N 1s-->4ppi) show a redshift. Results from ab initio calculations on (N-2)(13) clearly indicate that the molecular orientation within a cluster is critical to the spectral shift, where bulk sites as well as inner- and outer-surface sites are characterized by different inner-shell absorption energies. These results are compared to the experimental spectra as well as previous work on site-selectively excited atomic van der Waals clusters, providing an improved spectral assignment of core exciton states in weakly bound molecular clusters and the corresponding condensed phase. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.