Suceava Citadel, code SV-II-a-A-05449, Ministry of Culture, List of historical monuments in Suceava County. Monument of national importance, located on the eastern edge of the city.
Built at the end of the 14th century by the voivode Petru II Mușatinul (1375-1391), it was enlarged and reinforced twice – before 1476 and 1497 – by the voivode Stephen the Great (1457-1504).
The rectangular plan of the 14th-century Musatine fort inside the fortress bears great resemblance to similar constructions in the Polish-Baltic area.
Stephen the Great was an important military leader in Europe in the second half of the 15th century (36 military conflicts with 34 victories), who influenced the history of Romania, the Ottoman Empire, Poland, Ukraine and Hungary. Prior to 1497, when he had the necessary resources and specialists, he built a third surrounding enclosure wall, 2 meters thick, attached to the second wall erected in 1476. The attached wall was star-shaped, supported by 6 simple buttresses, in the style of a bastion or star fort, a fortification that first appeared in Italy in the second half of the 15th century.
The main rooms of the fortress that visitors can admire are the royal chapel, the royal apartment, the mint, the guard room, the gun powder room, the cellar, the prison and the place of execution. There are also replicas of many medieval weapons (cannons, swords, battle axes, spears, bows and arrows).
Another element of tourist attraction of the Citadel is the Medieval Art Festival “Stephen the Great” (the 13th edition in 2019), which is organized annually here in August, with participants from Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, Republic of Moldova. The festival presents fighting shows, horseback riding, archery, music and medieval gastronomy workshops, etc.
