SOROCA FORTRESS is a historic fort in the BESSARABIA (Republic of Moldova), from the city of SOROCA, established by the Moldavian Prince STEPHEN the GREAT (romanian: Ştefan cel Mare) in 1499.
   Between 1543 and 1546 under the rule of PETRU RAREŞ, the fortress was rebuilt in stone as a perfect circle with five bastions situated at equal distances.
   The current building displays the most elaborated characteristics of late medieval fortifications.
The walls are not built straight but in a curved shape to resist better to projectile, so are the 4 outer towers.
We can notice also round towers which allowed the defensors to shoot from better angles and thus protect the base of the walls.
The entire building has a diameter of 30 meters, 4 meters for the towers. Each tower has 4 level, the first two lower ones were used for artillery. The walls are 3 meters thick and we can find signs of a previous ditch. The main entrance tower had 3 doors, amongst them a portcullis which were closed during battles, thus the space saved at the upper level allowed garrison to pray in a small chapel (i.s.)