SOROCA FORTRESS

Soroca fortress is one of the most outstanding tourist attractions in the Republic of Moldova. It
is located in a small Moldovan town (bearing the same name) close to the Ukrainian border. The
famous landmark of Soroca town is a well-preserved Middle Age fortress with stout stone walls
right down by the riverside, intended to daunt unwelcome guests. It used to be part of a rather
complex and important defensive system, which comprised 4 fortresses along the Nistru
(Dniester) river in the East, 2 on the bank of Danube in the South, and three more to protect the
North.
A wooden outpost had initially been built in the place where it can be found today in the 15th
century. However, in the period 1543 through 1546, the fortress was completely re-built in stone,
giving it the shape one can see today a perfect circle, the diameter of which is 37.5 m, having
5 bastions situated at equal distances. When designing the fortress the builders incorporated the
supreme law of harmony the golden section, which makes the fortress unique among examples
of European defensive architecture.
Soroca fortress is the only medieval monument of Moldova that has been preserved entirely as it
was designed by its builders. Depicted on most old forms of currency, on the backside of the
current 20 lei (national currency of Republic of Moldova) bank note, and even on the backside
of the Personal Identification Cards of the citizens of Moldova, the Soroca Fortress is
obviously something that local people are proud of. Looking so gloriously redoubtable and
sturdily impregnable outwardly and so securely inspiring within, it has long been a symbol of
stability and confidence for the Moldovan people...