Lary Hostel

Seat Citadel of Suceava 1

by johnsakura

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.

Bucovina - the scenery

by jacobzoethout

The scenery in Bucovina is very nice; besides going for the monasteries, the road between Sucevita and Moldovita is worth going there because of the beautiful landscapes. On the highest point, there was still some snow left when we went there in april.

Piata 22. Decembrie

by yumyum

This is the city's main square. Here you find the culture palace, pedestrian zones, the big Mc at the bottom across the B.-dul Ana Ipatescu. The fountain on this square has blue coloured water. When we were there, there was a folk music concert at night because of an election campain. Since the weather was very unfriendly there were not many people listening to it.

If you listen to the videos you get a short impression of the local music.

Suceava and Southern Bucovina 2005

by jacobzoethout

We arrived in Suceava by bus, coming from Botosani. The bus station was located in the heart of the city. We walked from the bus station to the central square of the city. Suceava was a much more touristic city then Botosani. In one small tourist agency we arranged a day-trip to the nearby Bucovina painted monasteries.

Suceava is a city in the Romanian region of Moldova; it used to be the capital of Moldova in the late Middle Ages.
In the days of Ceausescu, it became an industrial centre and unfortunately, not much is left of the old days.
Suceava, however is an ideal city base for exploring the Southern Bukovina region, with its famous medieval painted monasteries.

4 Days in Suceava

by dkoishi

Suceava is a nice place to spend some days and use as base to explore the nice countryside of Southern Bucovina with its wonderful painted monasteries (4 of them UNESCO listed).

The center of the town is very compact, and there are a handful of good quality and relativelly cheap accomodation avaliable (expect to spend around 25-30E for a double with private bathroom with shower, tv and breakfast)

There are nice things to see in the city. Some interesting churches, a monastery with painted walls (but faded), a fortification and atmosphere is relaxed and nice.

The train staion is far from the city but easily reached by bus (both private vans or old municipal transportation) but the bus station that is more useful to get to the sites of the monasteries is within a walking distance from the center of the city - if it's not in the center itself.

Just go there and enjoy !