Neamț Citadel ( ro, Cetatea Neamț or Cetatea Neamțului, ) is a medieval fortress located in north-eastern part of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, near Târgu Neamț,

Neamț County Neamț County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. The county takes its name from the Neamț River. Demographics Population In 2011, it had a population of 470,766 ...

. It was built in 14th century

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...

during

Petru I of Moldavia Petru I may have been a Voivode (prince) of Moldavia from the end of 1367 to after July 1368. Several historians, including Constantin Rezachevici and Ioan Aurel Pop, believe him to have been the son of prince Ştefan, oldest son of voivode Bogd ...

's reign and expanded in the 15th century. The citadel played a key role in

Stephen III of Moldavia Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

's defense system, along with

Suceava Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. Klaus Pet ...

, Hotin, Soroca,

Orhei Orhei (; Yiddish ''Uriv'' – אוריװ), also formerly known as Orgeev (russian: Орге́ев), is a city, municipality and the administrative centre of Orhei District in the Republic of Moldova, with a population of 21,065. Orhei is appro ...

Tighina Bender (, Moldovan Cyrillic: Бендер) or Bendery (russian: Бендеры, , uk, Бендери), also known as Tighina ( ro, Tighina), is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under ''de facto'' control of the u ...

, Chilia and

Cetatea Albă Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ( uk, Бі́лгород-Дністро́вський, Bílhorod-Dnistróvskyy, ; ro, Cetatea Albă), historically known as Akkerman ( tr, Akkerman) or under different names, is a city, municipality and port situated on ...

History

Lack of reliable information on the origins of Neamț Fortress had resulted in several hypotheses whose reliability was often questioned. A number of historians and philologists, as A.D. Xenopol, B.P. Hasdeu, D. Onciul consider that - according to the papal bull of 1232 - the Teutonic Knights of Bârsa had built between 1211–1225 on the eastern slope of the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

a ''castrum muntissimum'' which was later identified as the citadel. The Germanic (Teutonic or Saxon) hypothesis was acquired by many of Romanian historians and sustained by both: -the site's onomastic "Neamt", which in Slavonic and Rumanian languages means " German" -and by the fortification style, typical to Imperial German military architecture of Hohenstaufen period XII-XIV centuries. The German knights "the Saxons" have been appointed to fortify the Carpathian passes against the frequent barbarian incursions into Transilvania. The Saxons have been settled in Transilvania (Siebenbürgen- seven castles) since then, 150 years before the founding of later principalities of Valachia and Bogdania(Moldova). Archaeological research of the citadel has not revealed any evidence of a fortification before the reign of prince Peter II (1375-1391) & oldest coins discovered on the site are from the same reign. The name might be related with the name of the district and later county of Neamț where later ( i.e. early 14th century) Saxon colonists settled in the nearby town of Baia (known then as Moldau).

Gallery

File:Neamt Citadel 2009 September 22 5.JPG, Inner Court File:Neamt Citadel 08.jpg, Neamț Citadel File:Neamt Citadel 2009 September 22 2.JPG File:Neamt Citadel 2009 September 22 1.jpg, File:Neamt Citadel 06.jpg, File:Neamt Citadel 08.jpg, File:Neamt Citadel 05.jpg, File:Neamt Citadel 03.jpg, File:Neamt Citadel 2009 September 22 4.JPG,

External links

English description
Castles in Romania Castles in Moldavia Buildings and structures in Neamț County Tourist attractions in Neamț County Historic monuments in Neamț County {{Romania-struct-stub

History

Gallery

See also

External links