Romania · 14th century
Șcheia Fortress, also encountered under the name of the Western Fortress of Suceava, is a ruined fortress in the north-western part of the municipality of Suceava (in north-eastern Romania). It is located at the edge of a wood on a terminal spur of the Șeptilici hill (384 metres in altitude), at a height of more than 80 metres above the meadow of the Suceava. From here the whole northern valley of the Suceava can be seen.
Șcheia Fortress formed part of the system of fortifications built in Moldavia at the end of the 14th century, at the moment when the Ottoman danger appeared. The system of medieval fortifications comprised fortified settlements (princely courts, monasteries with high walls, as well as fortresses of strategic importance) for the purpose of defence, strengthened with stone walls, earthen ramparts or having deep ditches.
The fortress was built at the end of the 14th century by Peter II (Petru Mușat) and was dismantled at the beginning of the 15th century by Alexander the Good. At present nothing remains of Șcheia Fortress but ruins.
Șcheia Fortress – Suceava was included as an archaeological site on the List of historic monuments of Suceava County of 2015, with the classification code SV-I-s-A-05389 and a protected area of 4.8 hectares.
There is no access road to the ruins of the fortress, nor even a sign to indicate its existence, many people not knowing even of its existence, still less of the place where it is to be found. The fortress can be reached by a forest road at the end of Mihail Sadoveanu street in Suceava, through a small wood until one reaches a hill ridge. The place where the fortress stands is marked by an old sign, now broken, but whose iron foot can easily be noticed.
Machine-translated from “Cetatea Șcheia” on the Romanian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Șcheia Fortress ranks #7,947 of 9,035 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #81 of the 125 mapped in Romania. Founded c. 1375, it is older than 53% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 757 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Chernivtsi, 74 km away. See how Romania compares in the castle statistics.
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