Suceava (Romanian Suceava, Polish Suczawa, Ukrainian Сучава, Yiddish שוץ) is a large city in Romania, the center of Suceava County. Between 1388 and 1565, Sucsava was the capital of the first centralized Moldavian state.
St. George's Church - along with several other monastery churches in
Northern Moldova - is part of the world heritage.
Mirăuți Church
(Biserica Mirăuți) - one of the oldest buildings in Sucsava. It was
built between 1380-1390 as a foundation of Prince Petru Mușat I. For
centuries, the building was the main cathedral of Moldavia, where the
reigning princes were also crowned. It stands near the princely castle,
separated from it by a stream. According to a - scientifically
unconfirmed - tradition, a bridge made of ox hide connected the church
with the royal residence. The cathedral was extensively rebuilt at the
end of the (17th century) and enriched with Havasalföldi-style
decorations. It was restored between 1898-1903 by an Austrian architect
K. A. Romstorfer.
Cetatea de Scaun: the princely castle
Cetatea
Șcheia: the western castle of Sucsava, the same age as the princely
castle, but only used for a short time
Mănăstirea Zamca: a monastery
founded by Armenians and built in 1606
Sucsava Pictures 1914-1965
Sucsava is located on the banks of the Sucsava River, in the former Bukovina region, in north-eastern Romania. The DN2 highway passes through it.
The city got its name from the river Suceava (Romanian: Suceava), next to which it lies. The name of the river is derived from the Eastern Slavic word сок (sók) 'juice, juice' with the adjective -ава (ava). The early Vlach chroniclers (Simion Dascălul, Grigore Ureche) saw the Hungarian word szűcs in the name, but this only happened in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 19th century, it was a common naive etymology, which is not supported either by the essentially water-name origin, or by the fact that no explanation was given for the ending of the name. At the same time, the Hungarian sources do not make it likely that the settlement ever had a Hungarian name, since the earliest data already mention the adoption of the Vlach name, cf. 1541/1600: Swczowa, 1587: Szocsavia, 1646–7/1780: Sucsavia, 1653: Szucsva, 1705: Szucsaván (inflected form).
The history of the city is closely intertwined with the past of
Moldavia. Its territory and surroundings were already inhabited in
prehistoric times, however, according to the excavations carried out
here, its population had not yet formed larger settlements. The
archaeological findings here only refer to village-like dwellings from
those times, and only archaeological findings from the Middle Ages, the
13th century, have survived.
Located in a favorable location, at
the intersection of several routes, the settlement attracted merchants
and craftsmen. By the end of the 14th century, the small village
standing here had developed into a trading town with several thousand
inhabitants. The fate of Sucsáva had further dynamic progress when
prince Petru Mușat moved his seat here, which first became Baia, then
Szeretvásár (Siret), and later Alexandru Lăpușneanu moved it from there
to Jászvásár (Iași).
Under Prince Petru Mușat
Prince Petru
Mușat also built his castle around 1388, and the oldest document that
mentions Sucsava from the period of his reign is the writing from 1388,
which offers 3,000 silver zlotys to the Polish king Jagielló Ulászló.
Later, the princes continuously expanded and modernized the city, which
as a princely seat began to grow rapidly in the 15th century and soon
became the most important commercial center of Moldavia.
Under
the Moldavian prince Alexandru cel Bun
During the time of Alexandru
cel Bun (1401-1432), it developed into an important center of trade with
the East. The most important public buildings were grouped around the
princely residence built here, as well as the one-story houses of the
wealthy citizens, mostly built of stone, while the simpler residential
buildings were mostly made of wood, and most of them burned down several
times during the sieges of the city.
Under Prince Ștefan cel Mare
Sucsava's heyday occurred during the reign of Prince Ștefan cel Mare
(1457–1504), whose name was known far beyond the borders of the
principality at that time. It was besieged by the Turks in 1476 and by
the Poles in 1497 without success.
Under Turkish rule
As a
result of the betrayal of the boyars, it was occupied by the Turkish
troops of Szolimán Basa in 1538. Prince Alexandru Lăpușneanu set fire to
the castle on the orders of the Turks and moved the princely center from
there to Iași. The remains of the castle were blown up in 1675 on the
orders of the Turks.
The restoration of the ruins began in 1895
under the direction of the Austrian architect Karl Romstorfer. Its
restoration continued in the 1950s.
Sucks after the Turkish times
Between 1775 and 1918, the city belonged to the Habsburg Empire as part
of Bukovina, the border of the empire was at the southeastern edge of
the city. Many significant buildings (city hall, courthouse) bear the
characteristics of the architecture of the Habsburg monarchy.
After the First World War, it was annexed to Romania along with the
southern part of Bukovina. Since then it has been the center of Suceava
County.
Sons and daughters of the town
Petro Mohyla (1596–1647), Orthodox
saint
Ludwig Adolf Staufe-Simiginowicz (1832–1897), teacher and poet
Meir Schapira (1887–1933), Hasidic rabbi and Rosh yeshiva
Arnold
Daghani (1909–1985), painter
Fritz Schajowicz (1911–1992), bone
pathologist
Victor Schlötzer (1923–1989?), painter
George Ostafi
(1961–2019), painter
Norman Manea (born 1936), writer
Vladimir
Găitan (1947–2020), actor
Marius Babias (born 1962), art critic
Liliana Gafencu (born 1975), rower
Sebastian Gheorghe (born 1976),
football assistant referee
Dorin Goian (born 1980), soccer player
Lucian Goian (born 1983), soccer player
Ioan Dovalciuc (born 1984),
bobsledder
Alina Vacariu (born 1984), model
Marius-Vasile Cozmiuc
(born 1992), rower
Alin Firfirică (born 1995), track and field
athlete