Soroca Fortress (Moldavia)
Soroca District See list of castles in Moldavia
The fortress of Soroca was built by Stephen the Great in the last quarter of the 15th century. It is said by the local tradition, which explains its name by the fact that the lord put soroc (building term). The Soroca fortress was built against the Tartar prey, which through the fords of the Dniester, made their way to Moldova. Soroca was not a large fortress, with two rows of walls, like Suceava Cetatea Albă or Hotinul, but a fortress, a castle for the shelter of a guard guard against the Tartars.
Soroca Fortress is a unique historical monument in the architecture of the defensive constructions of medieval Moldova. The stone fortress we see today was built by a group of masons from Transylvania, led by the craftsman Iacob, who left an inscription inside the fortress: "he built this castle Iacob". Before the stone fortress there was a fortress of wood and earth, which is believed to have been built earlier, although it was mentioned only in 1499. Remains of this wooden fortification were found during archaeological excavations inside the fortress.
The fortress has a circular shape with a diameter of the inner courtyard of 30.5 m, with 5 towers, 4 circular and a prismatic one with the entrance passage, all located at equal distances. The walls of the enclosure, 3.05 m thick in all its elements, have a height of 21 m, with a flare in the form of talos at ground level, deepened by another 7 m in the plateau to the layer of hard rock. The upper part of the fortress, dominated by the towers that rose above the curtains by 4 m, is endowed with battlements. Inside the fortress, three rows of wooden galleries, supported on beams in the console, were intended for the defenders of the fortress. The fortress is entered through the prismatic tower facing the Dniester, crossed on the first level by a sectioned passage by building two massive gates, preceded by a harrow. Under the passage were two underground "traps." Above the entrance is the chapel of the fortress with the entrance on the first gallery. It had an ogival arched portal with wicker frames in the spirit of Moldavian Gothic. The entrances to the tower rooms took place from the wooden galleries, connected by external stairs. On the guard road, arranged next to the battlements of the curtains, partly on their thickness, the defense inventory was stored. A well was dug in the center of the city.
The size and shape of the Soroca fortress are very important for understanding its origin and place in the defense system of medieval Moldova. The Sorocii fortress is contemporary with the Italian Renaissance, it has similar features to many of the fortresses in northern Italy (especially the castle of Caprarola), but there are many elements that distinguish them. The small dimensions of the fortress, the inner diameter equal to 100 steps, places the Sorocii fortress among the remarkable achievements of European architecture, being a testimony of the experience of its craftsmen in the art of construction.
At the end of the 17th century, during the siege of a force of 2000 Polish soldiers, a series of changes were made. 13 rooms for storing gunpowder were attached to the walls of the enclosure, and rooms for accommodation were built above them. The gaps between the battlements were blocked by holes for small arms. Barracks were built for the Polish soldiers outside the fortress, the land being surrounded by a ditch and a wave of earth.