Unseen Romania

Cetatea Neamt - The Strongest Moldavian Fortress

Cetatea Neamt is only 46 kilometres away from the Targu Neamt town and is known as one of the most important medieval monuments in the area. The place where this fortress was erected is over 7000 years old, fact proved by the numerous archaeological sites and architectural evidence of cultures that dwelled in that area of Romania.

It is very hard to determine the exact moment when Cetatea Neamtului was founded, but historians and great figures of local culture like A.D. Xenopol, B. P. Hasdeu or D. Onciul quote the document "Papal Bull" from 1232 which states that the Teuton knights were stationed in Tara Barsei between 1211-1225 and they built a "castrum muntissium",  on the eastern side of Carpathian Mountains. This citadel could only have been Cetatea Neamt.

The spot where Cetatea Neamt was built was wisely chosen, as the Plesului Height provides cover, in case of enemy attacks. The Plesului Rock is a triangle-shaped block, part of the Cerdac peak, measuring about 480 metres above sea level and 80 metres from the level of the river Neamtului. The architecture of the fortress seemed to have suffered Polish and Lithuanian influences, but what's interesting about this settlement is that the defence towers from the four corners were not placed at the exterior of the walls, but rather built directly from the walls' main structure.

The initial version of Cetatea Neamt was in fact a fort with 12-15 metres tall walls, that were 3 metres thick. One could enter the fort via the northern gate, which was the weak point of the settlement, but it was protected by a deep moat. As medieval weapons evolved into catapults and other methods of destruction that involved rock projectiles, that walls had to be reinforced. The most important reinforcement was made during the reign of Stefan cel Mare, probably between the battle of Vaslui (January 1475) and the battle of Razboieni-Valea Alba.

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