| The Royal Fortress |
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The Royal Fortress Suceava wasbuilt during Petru I Musat's reign (1375-1391). At first it had a rectangular shape, with a 36-meter long southern side and 40-meter long eastern side and defensive square towers at each end and in the middle of each side as well. At Stefan cel Mare's order, the inside rooms were restored and an inside wall was added to surround the fortress. The wall was built in two stages: before 1476 it was 1.5 meters long and had square towers; later on, a second 2-meter long wall was raised and the towers became circular. The inside rooms belonged to soldiers, the prince and his family; there was also a chapel and a warehouse for food and ammunition. The Suceava fortress was subjected to powerful sieges during Stefan cel Mare's reign (1476, 1485, and 1497), but it could not be conquered. Under Alexandru Lapusneanu's second reign, the Turks ordered the fortress to be set on fire and the royal residence was moved to Iasi. The last flourishing period of the fortress took place during Vasile Lupu's reign; the prince restored a good deal of it. In 1657, the Turks ordered Prince Dumitrascu Cantacuzino to destroy it. |
