Suceava - Tourism

Tourism

In the past few years Suceava started to evolve more rapidly. The most important sights in the town date from its time as a princely capital.

• Mirǎuti Church

Founded in 1390 by Petru I of Moldavia, it is the oldest church in Suceava, and established the city as a see of the church (which later moved to the). Stephen the Great was crowned in this church in 1457 and the church remained the coronation church of Moldavia until 1522.

• Church of Saint George, part of the Monastery of Saint John the New.

Founded by Bogdan the One-eyed in 1514. It has frescoes painted on the outside, typical of the region, and is one of the seven churches listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site (see Painted churches of northern Moldavia). Saint John the New was a Moldavian monk who preached during Turkish occupation and was subsequently martyred in Cetatea Alba, present-day Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in Ukraine. Alexander the Good brought his relics to Moldavia in 1415. The monastery serves as the seat of the Archbishop of Suceava and Radauti.

• Church of Saint Demetrius

This church was founded by Petru Rareş, the son of Stephan the Great, in 1534, with a bell tower added in 1561, and the frescoes inside restored recently

• Church of Saint John the Baptist

Built by Vasile Lupu in 1643

There are numerous museums in the city: the Bucovina History Museum, the Bucovina Village Museum, the Bucovina Ethnographic Museum (housed in an inn from the 17th century), and the Natural History Museum.

Furthermore, there is the Cetatea de Scaun or Princely Citadel, like the Mirǎuti Church founded by Petru I of Moldavia when he moved the capital from Siret to Suceava. Alexander the Good and Stephen the Great expanded the citadel, and it became strong enough to hold off an attack by Ottoman sultan Mehmed II (the conqueror of Constantinople), in 1476 .