He shared with us photographs of the Soroca Fortress, which will very soon open its doors after restoration.
I have never been to Soroca and never seen the Soroca Fortress. I was frightened by the bad roads, although in general you won’t be frightened by this - my cross-country ability is not bad. IN Lately I was thinking about rushing there, but as often happens, the Magpies themselves found me. In October 2014, I had the opportunity to shoot a calendar for the national water Gura Kainarului; one of the frames of the calendar had to be shot in the Soroca Fortress. This is how I ended up not only in Soroki, but also inside the fortress, which was closed for restoration.
Numerous posters along the road in Soroca inform that it was repaired with the money of American taxpayers. In places where the unkempt roadside was not noticeable, it seemed that we were not driving through Moldova.
In addition to the Soroca Fortress, Soroca has many attractions of interest to tourists: gypsy houses, the Thanksgiving Candle and the Haiduk Cave.
The Soroca gypsies and the gypsy baron are known far beyond the borders of Moldova. Therefore, it’s worth just walking through Soroky to look at the houses, domes, statues, columns. Almost all the houses are not completed and they remain in this condition forever. Near one house we saw a huge golden dome. We thought they were preparing to install it on the house, but it turned out that the dome had already been erected once, but it fell at night. Another famous house - with horses like on the facade of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. These horses are not hollow inside, as is usually the case, but cast and therefore very heavy. After being placed on the roof, they did not fall from it, but simply fell to the floor below, breaking through the ceiling with their weight. Now they are standing on the balcony.
Since the Soroca Fortress is located on the banks of the Dniester, it was planned to make a large entrance to the fortress in a semicircle, facing the Dniester and turning inward.
But so far the money has been allocated only for the restoration of the walls, roof of the fortress and beautification of the surrounding area. Work is underway actively, the outlines of the park around the fortress, fountain and walking paths are already visible.
Inside the fortress, restoration is in full swing: everything is scaffolded, there are a lot of boards and beams, work is in full swing. The masonry everywhere has already been largely restored, work is actively underway on the roof, the planks for which are being brought from Maramures, Romania. This is a waterproof tree, but the boards are also impregnated with a special solution.
The yard is littered with boards. There is a well in the center of the courtyard. The fortress struck me with its small, compact size and circular shape. There is a special spirit in her.
From the inside, square recesses are noticeable in the wall along its entire circumference - they are intended for beams on which an entire internal floor of wood was once built. Unfortunately, there is also not enough money for its restoration, but let’s hope that it will be restored, then the fortress will return to its original appearance.
From the trip I brought a gift from the restorers - one of the planks used to patch the roof of the fortress, with a dedicatory inscription with wishes for good from one of the restorers.
About a small but very famous Moldavian town Magpies, which is located on the banks of the Dniester right on the Ukrainian border, two separate posts in this magazine were already dedicated: the first told about a unique for the entire CIS, the next talked about the new symbol of Soroka, located on the slope of Bekirovskaya Mountain. The final post about Soroki includes about thirty ordinary photographs of the town, among which is the oldest city landmark - medieval fortress(the only one preserved in Moldova).
The fortress was built in 1499 by the famous Moldavian governor Stephen the Great (Stefan cel Mare), the image of which can now be seen on all Moldovan banknotes. Initially the fortress was wooden, and in 1543-46. was rebuilt in stone and in this form and has survived to this day
The fortress has a rounded plan and five towers (4 cylindrical and 1 square). Entrance inside is open from May to September; in other seasons you can also get inside, but you will need to contact the administration of the local history museum, which, however, is not located very close to the fortress. It was for this reason and because of the lack of free time that I didn’t get inside, but if you still have some, be sure to get inside!
Inside the fortress you can explore the courtyard area, go into the semi-basement rooms and get to the fortress wall, from which you can see a beautiful view of the city, the Dniester and the Ukrainian territory. More beautiful view probably only for the Thanksgiving Candle :)
The raw materials for the construction of the fortress were Neogene organogenic limestones-shell rocks, which make up the vast majority of the Moldavian territory
IN main tower there is a small church with a wooden altar and a portrait of Stefan cel Mare
A long embankment with views of Ukraine stretches along the Dniester throughout the entire city.
On the opposite bank is the Ukrainian village of Tsekinovka. It is interesting that interstate communication across the river is organized here - which does not exist here in Belarus. But more on that later...
Dniester downstream. If you look closely, you can see a tall beacon candle in the center of the frame - this is the one already mentioned more than once,
With observation deck which offers simply gorgeous landscapes! Here are just a couple of them
Here she is "Candle"
Now let's get back to border affairs. Not far from the fortress there is an interstate river ferry crossing Soroki-Tsekinovka. The ferry operates during daylight hours and departs once an hour, but be careful - as interstate crossing, then only citizens of Ukraine and Moldova can use it!
Before getting on the ferry you need to go through customs control- on the Moldovan side there is a separate terminal for this business, from which a direct path leads to the ferry platform
On the Ukrainian side, as we see, everything is simpler. If you still want to try out the border crossing, then don’t worry, but go to Cosauti, located 10 km up the river. There, a citizen of absolutely any state can cross the border at any time of the day. On the Ukrainian side, the small town of Yampol will be waiting for you.
While my new friend Misha and I are walking along the embankment towards his house, he tells me how, as a child, he and his friends organized raids on the Ukrainian side in order to eat the local fruits. The ferry was very useful back then :)
Misha lives in one of these nine-story buildings, right on the banks of the Dniester, or whatever - right on the border!
Once in the residential areas of the town, I became a little depressed. Already today I had a chance to see the devastation in the courtyards of Balti, now Magpies are next in line. “This” was supposed to be a descent to the Dniester
"This" is a store.
I became even more depressed when Misha talked about local utility rates. I was simply shocked when I found out that he pays 60 euros a month just for gas! Although perhaps he was more shocked when he found out that I pay 25 dollars a month for all utilities and this, by our standards, is not very cheap!
But a semi-residential house, or rather a “semi-residential house,” because half the house is just not enough. In the early 90s there was an explosion here and this is the result.
They tried to restore the house, but as you can see from the photo, there was not enough money even for one entrance.... Another thing that immediately caught my eye was a large amount of garbage in the courtyards - of course this exists in Soviet Belarus, but it is a very rare case in my memory. True, it’s probably worth making a discount for the month of March - I suppose our month of putting things in order hasn’t started yet :)
Finally we get out of the sleeping ghettos. Misha is going to Cosauti on business, and I’m heading to to look at the colorful gypsy architecture and just chat with strangers to our brother, but very interesting people.
A couple of photos from the gypsy quarter.
Chief's daughter and grandson Baron of Moldavia Arthur Cerari(who calls himself king)
View of Soroca from the heights of the gypsy quarter
Streets of the town
Lyceum named after Pushkin
Main square with the monument to Stephen the Great
Soroca Fortress was built by Stephen the Great in the last quarter of the 15th century. So says the local tradition, which explains its name by the fact that the ruler set “forty” (the period for the construction of the fortress). In 1499, the documentary mentions Koste - the first pyrkalab of the fortress. The Soroca fortress was built as a defensive fortification against the predatory Tatar hordes, which invaded Moldova through the Dniester crossings. Soroca was not a large fortress with two rows of walls, like Suceava, Cetatea Albe or Khotyn, but only a small fortification, a castle for sheltering guards against the Tatars.
Some historians, including Dmitry Cantemir, Constantin Stamati, Zamfir Arbore and Nicolae Iorga, believe that the Soroca Fortress was built on the site of the former Genoese trading post of Olkhoniya, where goods brought from Podolia were stored. Olchionia was allegedly a fortified settlement on the way from Cetatea Albe to Suceava. But on this moment there is no archaeological evidence to support this hypothesis.
Archaeological studies have discovered settlements around the city characteristic of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, the Bronze Age, the Early Iron Age and others, up to the Middle Ages, but traces of the ancient colony of Olkhonia (about 500 BC) have not been identified as no traces were found ancient fortress Dacians Sargus (also called Sargidava, Krakhita or Krahidava), who, according to some historians of past centuries, were in this zone.
IN late XVII century, during the stay of the garrison of 2,000 Polish soldiers in the fortress, a number of changes were made. Another 13 rooms for storing gunpowder were attached to the walls, and above them were rooms for living. The spaces between the teeth were closed, leaving only openings for light guns. Barracks were built for Polish soldiers outside the fortress, and the entire area is surrounded by an earthen rampart and moat.
The Soroca Fortress, as the easternmost point of defense of Moldova, has been the scene of the most terrible invasions throughout its history. Here, at the foot of its walls, fierce battles took place.
Architecture
The fortress has a round shape, the diameter of the courtyard is 30.5 m. The five towers of the fortress - four round and one square above the entrance - are located at an equal distance from each other. The walls of the fortress are 3.05 m thick, 21 m high, with openings at ground level, and are deepened into the plateau another 7 m, down to a layer of hard rock. At the top of the fortress, dominated by towers rising 4 m above the walls, there are loopholes. The inner walls of the fortress are surrounded by three rows of wooden galleries supported by cantilever beams, which were intended for the defenders of the fortress. The entrance to the fortress through the arch of a square tower from the side of the Dniester was closed by two massive gates, preceded by a lattice. There were two “traps” under the entrance to the basement. Above the entrance there was a fortress chapel with access to the first gallery. The chapel had a portal in the shape of a pointed arch with ornaments in the Moldavian Gothic style. It was possible to enter the premises of the towers from wooden galleries connected by external staircases. Along the patrol route, defensive weapons were stored near the battlements of the walls, partly in their thickness. A well was dug in the center of the fortress.
The size and shape of the Soroca fortress are very important for understanding its origin and place in the defense system of medieval Moldova. This fortress is a contemporary of the best achievements of the Italian Renaissance, and it is similar to many fortresses northern Italy(the similarities with the Caprarola Castle are especially noticeable), but there are enough elements that distinguish them. Small sizes Fortress, internal diameter equal to 100 steps, allows us to include the Soroca Fortress among the remarkable achievements of European architecture, being evidence of the experience of its masters in the art of construction.
The final and interesting highlight of the trip to Moldova was the Soroca Fortress.
Soroca Fortress was built by Stephen the Great in the last quarter of the 15th century. Local tradition explains its name by the fact that the ruler set “forty” (the period for the construction of the fortress). In 1499, Koste, the first pyrkalab of the fortress, was documented. The Soroca fortress was built as a defensive fortification against the Tatar hordes, which invaded Moldova through the Dniester crossings. Soroca was not a large fortress with two rows of walls, like Suceava, Cetatea Albe or Khotyn, but only a small fortification, a castle for sheltering guards against the Tatars.
Some historians believe that the Soroca Fortress was built on the site of the former Genoese trading post Olkhonia, where goods brought from Podolia were stored. Olchionia was allegedly a fortified settlement on the way from Cetatea Albe to Suceava. But at the moment there is no archaeological evidence to support this hypothesis.
Soroca Fortress is a unique monument of defensive architecture of medieval Moldova. A letter from the Moldavian ruler Petar Rares dated April 23, 1543, addressed to the master of Bistrita in Transylvania, in which the ruler asked to send craftsmen and apprentices to build fortifications in Soroca, is considered the decisive argument for dating the stone fortress. The stone fortress we see today was built by a group of masons from Transylvania under the leadership of the master Jacob, who left an inscription inside the fortress: “Jacob built this castle.” Before the stone fortress was built, there was a fortification made of wood and earth, which is mentioned only in 1499, although it is believed that it was built earlier. During archaeological excavations, which were carried out in the fortress, the remains of wooden fortifications were found. 
The inside of the fortress was still under restoration. We “hurried” a little with our trip to Moldova, because... The opening of the fortress was announced on May 16. Since I couldn’t go inside for this reason, I stole the photo from Wikipedia :), probably after the renovation the yard will look no worse. 
The fortress has a round shape, the diameter of the courtyard is 30.5 m. The five towers of the fortress - four round and one square above the entrance - are located at an equal distance from each other. The walls of the fortress are 3.05 m thick, 21 m high, with openings at ground level, and are deepened into the plateau another 7 m, down to a layer of hard rock. At the top of the fortress, dominated by towers rising 4 m above the walls, there are loopholes. The inner walls of the fortress are surrounded by three rows of wooden galleries supported by cantilever beams, which were intended for the defenders of the fortress. The entrance to the fortress through the arch of a square tower from the side of the Dniester was closed by two massive gates, preceded by a lattice. There were two “traps” under the entrance to the basement. Above the entrance there was a fortress chapel with access to the first gallery. The chapel had a portal in the shape of a pointed arch with ornaments in the Moldavian Gothic style. It was possible to enter the premises of the towers from wooden galleries connected by external staircases. Along the patrol route, defensive weapons were stored near the battlements of the walls, partly in their thickness. A well was dug in the center of the fortress. 
And the Dniester flows nearby and the Ukrainian coast is visible. And this means that the native catches mobile connection. So, I called home because we crossed the border after the call, at least another 2-3 hours later. 
And a little video of the fortress
With this, our wanderings around Moldova were almost over. All that was left was to cross the border. Right in this place, not far from the fortress in Soroki, there is a ferry crossing that operates until 8 pm. But it was already about 8:00, there were no plans for such a border crossing before, so we went along the planned route through Mogilev-Podolsky. And this is another hour and a half drive to the north. The Moldovan border town was a shock. Although we had moved away from the gypsy capital, there was a gypsy center here again. In the middle of the garbage and dirt there was a street on which crowds of people were lounging idly. It was possible to drive further without noticing the border checkpoint, which was nestled on the street between 2 kiosks and garbage. It was simply scary to get out of the car. But, fortunately, we crossed this border much faster - in an hour and a half, and we also used the wi-fi near the border.
In general, in 3 days it is quite possible to explore the main attractions of Moldova and have fun!
Soroca Fortress
Lord Stephen the Great, in order to resist the attacks of the Turks, Tatars and other enemies, in 1499 built a square-shaped wooden fortress on the site of the Genoese fort of Olkhonia. The fortress became part of the defensive system of Moldova.
In the period 1543 - 1546, during the reign of Hospodar Peter Rares, the fortress was completely rebuilt. Instead of a wooden one, a stone fortress was erected.
In 1711, during the Prut campaign of Peter I, the Soroca fortress protected the townspeople and the fortress garrison from the Turks until the arrival of Russian troops.
The design of the fortress was based on the highest law of harmony - the “golden ratio”.
The Soroca fortress has a round shape, with a diameter of 37.5 meters. The fortress has 5 towers - 4 round and 1 entrance - square. The towers have three levels, and have special holes for cannons. The height of the fortress is 15-20 meters, and the thickness of the walls is 3.5 meters.
Huge historical value Soro fortress is that it has survived to this day the same as it was created by the masters of the Middle Ages.
The small military church located above the main entrance has also been preserved.
Attractions:
- Soroca Fortress
- Dniester River
- Small military church inside the fortress
- Gypsy Hill settled
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 9.00-18:00
Tour duration: 7-8 hours
Mănăstirea Cosăuţi- un loc de vis, un loc de legende
Cosauti village and monastery
One of the first tourist routes in Moldova was organized in the 60s. XX century and leads to the village of masons - Cosauti, which is located 7 kilometers north of the Soroca fortress and about 160 km north of Chisinau.
Craftsmen are engaged in artistic processing of stone, making decorative elements for houses, crucifixes with the faces of angels, tables, monuments, tombstones, etc. from it.
The first documentary mention of this settlement dates back to January 3, 1509, and as a result of archaeological excavations, a human settlement was discovered here, the age of which reaches 22 thousand years.
Not far from this Paleolithic site, in a deep gorge, there is an old medieval monastery, which has been restored in recent years by master masons. Near the monastery there is a spring with mineral water, and a little further you can see the Dniester rapids and the only granite quarry in Moldova.
The monastery is open to visitors every day.
Mănăstirea Rudi - un loc sfînt în mijlocul naturii
Located in the north of the Republic, approximately 200 km from Chisinau, the village of Rud is one of the most interesting places for visiting.
Here we can discover prehistoric traces in one of the natural caves approximately 100 m, one stunning nature reserve, ancient cape defenses (IV - III centuries BC), two round earthen fortresses (IX - XII centuries) "Turkish Plate" and "Germanarium", a rural community with rich traditions and others.
However, the main site to visit in this area is one of the oldest monasteries in Moldova.
Monastery in the village. Rudi has preserved the monastic traditional way of life, and the Church of the Holy Trinity, built in 1777, is considered an example of religious architecture made in the old Moldavian style.
The church is located in beautiful valley R. Bulboana, the right tributary of the river. Dniester.
Tsipova (Rezina) - a place full of legends!
Tsipova
In the village Tipova (about 100 km north of Chisinau) on the rocky bank of the Dniester there is a rock Orthodox monastery, the largest not only in Moldova, but also in this part of Europe.
The monastic community of this monastery was formed here much earlier than the Moldavian feudal state was created.
It is believed that some cells were dug into the steep rocky bank of the Dniester in the 10th-12th centuries. (according to other data in the 16th-18th centuries).
From 1776, a period of prosperity began, when the monastery expanded. The rock church was divided into large rooms, separated from each other by massive columns.
IN Soviet period the monastery was closed and destroyed. In 1975, the ruins of the Tsipova rock monastery were taken under state protection, and in 1994 church services resumed here.
It is believed that the Moldavian ruler Stefan the Great married Maria Voykitsa in this monastery, and according to another legend, the mythological poet Orpheus lived his last years in these rocks, whose remains allegedly rest in a niche of one of the cascades of the gorge.
The monastery is open to visitors daily.
Tourists arriving here can also visit the impressive gorge of the Tsipova landscape reserve.
On one of the uneven banks in the period of antiquity (IV-III centuries BC) there was an earthen fortress of the Geto-Dacians. Its towers on a high cape have survived to this day.
Zhabka is a village in the Floresti region of Moldova. Administrative center commune of the same name, which also includes the village of Bursuk. Located on the right bank of the Dniester (about 160 km north of Chisinau) it is well known to visitors to Moldova thanks to the local convent, which was the only operating monastery during the Soviet period.
Since its foundation, in the 17th century, the building of the monastery strongly resembled a real defensive structure.
The first mention of the monastery dates back to 1693, when the monks lived in cave cells and held services in a church carved into the rock.
In 1770 the monastery was located at its current location. At the same time, the construction of utility rooms and improvement of the monastery began. A rich library was founded.
At the beginning of the 19th century. stone churches are being built. The most significant church of the monastery was rebuilt several times and today it houses three altars - the Ascension of the Lord, the Transfiguration and the Holy Cross.
"Thanksgiving Candle"- a candle-shaped tower 29.5 meters high, built on the initiative of the Moldovan writer Ion Druta in memory of all the destroyed monuments of Moldovan culture.
If you want to truly see the beauty of Bessarabian culture, then be sure to go to the observation deck located at the base of the “candle” - the view of the great Dniester is simply gorgeous! By the way, another interesting thing is that the opposite bank of the Dniester in these places is already Ukraine .
The monument erected on the slope of Bekirovskaya Mountain (as it is called local residents) in 2004 is clearly visible from many places in the city. The candle also symbolizes the national unity of the Moldovan people. They say that the whole country collected money for the construction of the monument (just like for our library).
To get to the monument you will need to leave the city and walk literally 500-600 meters along the border Dniester. Border posts along the road remind of the special status of the territory.
Moldovan and Ukrainian fishermen comfortably positioned themselves opposite each other on both banks
Departure from Soroca
Kilometer posts in Moldova also attract special attention - they indicate the distance to the nearest populated area
Finally we reach the beginning of the staircase, consisting of 613 steps, at the end of which we get to “Badya Mior” - this is the name of the entire complex in the center of which the candle is located.
Somewhere halfway up the climb there is a simple covered gazebo installed above a large boulder.
More than thirty years ago Ion Druta wrote a novella "Badya Mior", in which he outlined his idea of the author of the nameless (folk) legend "Mioritsa". It is interesting that in this legend the main shepherd character eventually becomes the ruler of his country (like King David among the Jews). In general, the legend has many analogies with the Hebrew epic. But the most important thing: the shepherd lights a candle to the Lord God and asks him to preserve the people, their customs and culture. This candle is called the “Thanksgiving Candle” in the legend.
The writer chose the place to install the monument himself and settled on the Soroca steppe - the place where he was born and which he sang in his work.
Under the candle, among large limestone blocks, there is a large wooden cross.
Inside the monument there is a small chapel: there is an iconostasis and another book in which you can leave your deepest desire
The metal ring crowning the candle really resembles a flame, which is especially visible in the evening, after turning on the artificial lighting. The protruding bricks represent wax flowing down a burning candle.
Local girls)
Co observation deck a unique view opens up on the outskirts of the Dniester, called here the Sorokinskaya steppe, from a bird's eye view you can see, like on a topographic map, the Ukrainian Tsekinivka, the Soroki themselves and, most importantly, the Dniester meandering among the huge limestone massifs.
And here is the map itself. The red dot is the location of the observation deck
On the high banks of the Dniester, gray and white organic limestones are exposed everywhere, Ukrainian lands in the river floodplain.
Tsekinivka is a large Ukrainian village located directly opposite Soroca. Between two settlements There is an interstate ferry service located within the city in the area of the fortress (there will be a small post about it). The ferry operates during daylight hours and departs every hour. Be careful if you want to get to the Ukrainian side - according to the status, this point is interstate, i.e. it is only for citizens of Ukraine and Moldova.
Panorama Soroka and Tsekinivka
Dniester and surroundings
Below you can see Haiduk Bekir's bridge, named after a local robber who robbed the rich and distributed goods to the poor. Actually, on the slope of the same Bekirovaya Mountain, a little to the right and lower in the frame there is cave entrance, which served as a refuge for the haiduk. I didn’t get inside due to lack of time, and the security guard said that there was impassable mud there now (this was in March).
Well, I have to go down, because I risk being late for the last minibus to Chisinau
A burning candle is visible for many miles around. At approximately eight o'clock in the evening local time, a powerful spotlight is turned on on top of the stone candle, which is visible on a clear evening even in Attacks, located 40 kilometers from Soroca, and in Yampol- on the other side of the Dniester - a Ukrainian town about ten kilometers from Soroca. And transport with passengers approaching Soroki from Chisinau is guarded by this candle from the moment it arrives in the city and accompanies it for many more kilometers.
And finally, one more panorama: Soroki - Tsekinovka (Moldova - Ukraine)
Note to travelers: Be sure to visit Soroki! This is definitely one of the most interesting cities Moldova! Sorokinskaya fortress (the only one preserved in the country), a gypsy city, the “Thanksgiving Candle”, wonderful nature, and, well, the border (Which, you agree, also adds some spice.
