Soroca

A circle of stone

On the bank of the Dniester, in the north of Moldova, stands a fortress that forms a perfect circle when seen from above. Five towers, walls more than three metres thick, and across the water lies Ukraine. This is Soroca, a town of about twenty-one thousand people. For more than five centuries, it has looked out over the same river.

Ștefan cel Mare and his son

In fourteen ninety-nine, Prince Ștefan cel Mare had a wooden fort built here. It was meant to guard a ford in the river, a place where enemy horsemen could cross the Dniester. His son Petru Rareș had the fort rebuilt in stone between fifteen forty-three and fifteen forty-six. He chose a round plan with five evenly spaced towers. In seventeen eleven, the fortress still played a part in the campaign of Tsar Peter the Great. It was recently restored with support from the European Union.

The candle on the rock

High above the town, on a limestone cliff, stands a monument shaped like a candle. It is called Lumânarea Recunoștinței, the Candle of Gratitude. The idea came from the writer Ion Druță, and it was unveiled in two thousand and four. It is almost thirty metres high and built of stone from nearby Cosăuți. To reach the top, you climb six hundred and fifty-seven steps. The monument honours the nameless people who preserved the language, the culture and the history of the country.

The hill of the Roma

Behind the town lies a hill unlike any other. Roma families live here, and their houses are big, ornate and sometimes unfinished. Some façades echo the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, others the Capitol in Washington or the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Many houses were left unfinished after the fall of the Soviet Union. Officially, just over two thousand Roma live in Soroca, though in reality probably more. The community has a traditional leader with the title of baron. That is why Soroca is called the unofficial capital of the Roma.

Light over the river

When darkness falls, the light in the candle comes on. According to descriptions, it can be seen from Otaci in the north to Camenca in the south. Below, the Dniester flows on, past the silent fortress. On the far bank, Ukraine begins. The town has fewer people than it once did, but visitors still come for the same things: a fort, a candle and a hill full of stories.

Five centuries on watch

The fortress of Soroca was built to guard a single ford in a river. Since then, the borders in this region have shifted many times. Principalities, empires and republics came and went. Yet the stone circle of Petru Rareș still stands exactly where its builders placed it, with its five towers facing the water.