Soroca, Moldova

🇲🇩 Soroca is a city and municipality in Moldova, situated on the Dniester river about 160 km north of Chișinău. It is the administrative centre of the Soroca District.

History The city has its origin in the medieval Genoese trade post of Olchionia, or Alchona. It is known for its well-preserved stronghold, established by the Moldavian prince Stephen the Great (Ștefan cel Mare in Romanian) in 1499. The origins of the name Soroca are not fully known. Soroca (Russian: сорока) means Magpie in Russian. Its location is only a few km from the Moldova–Ukrainian border. The original wooden fort, which defended a ford over the Dniester, was an important link in the chain of fortifications which comprised four forts (e.g., Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, then known as Akkerman, and Khotyn) on the Dniester, two forts on the Danube, and three forts on the north border of medieval Moldavia. Between 1543 and 1546, under the rule of Peter IV Rareș, the fort was rebuilt in stone as a perfect circle with five bastions situated at equal distances.

During the Great Turkish War, John III Sobieski's forces successfully defended the fort against the Ottomans. It was of vital military importance during the Pruth River Campaign of Peter the Great in 1711. The stronghold was sacked by the Russians in the Austro-Russian–Turkish War (1735–39). The Soroca Fort is an important attraction in Soroca, having preserved cultures and kept the old Soroca to the present day.

The locality was greatly extended in the 19th century, during a period of relative prosperity. Soroca became a regional centre featuring large squares, modernized streets, hospitals, grammar schools and conventionalized churches. During the Soviet period, the city became an important industrial centre for northern Moldova.

Soroca was known for producing grapes, wheat, maize, and tobacco in 1919.

Media • Observatorul de Nord, a newspaper from Soroca, founded in 1998 • Vocea Basarabiei, 67,69 and 103.1