Photos of Suceava’s Castle, North Romania

The citadel was a fortified castle erected by Petru I Musat as a princely residence in the capital. He moved here in 1388. The citadel is a vast building shaped as a regular quadrilateral strengthened in the corners and the middle of the sides by square towers. Above spacious vaulted cellars there stood interior constructions: the apartments of the Prince and of the Princess, reception halls and a chapel. In 1400, Prince Alexandru the Kind put the finishing touches on the castle, working on the interior decoration and expanding the defense system.
Thus, the edifice was turned into a citadel with extremely important military functions. In his turn, Stephen the Great (1457-1504) erected a new series of thick walls (4-m)all around the citadel enforced by seven semi-cylindrical bastions, also adequate for the artillery. The western side of these walls is united with the three-tower side, making a powerful watch “crown” dominating the valley of Suceava and its neighborhood and allowing a wide vista. In the same period the buildings inside were rearranged with glazed-brick flooring and terra-cotta-clad walls and fireplaces.
On a plateau one kilometer away, there stood the second and the third lines of defense fortifications, made up of pits and deep trenches, designed to stop the advance of invaders. Although besieged several times (among the biggest sieges there were two by the Turks in 1476 and 1485), the citadel could never be taken. At the demand of the Turks (to whom some of the Princes were vassals) Alexandru Lapusneanu (1564) and later on Dumitrascu Cantacuzino (1675) burned and pulled the city down.
The restoration of the citadel began in the first years of the 20th Century under the guidance of Austrian architect, Romstorfer, and has continued through current times in parallel with archaeological digs.

Main gate of the castle, the sign indicates the price for entry about 25.000 lei for adult without taking photos.

Inside of castle tower. You can notice the white line which indicates the after and before restauration.