Soroca

Soroca stands beside the Dniester at a river crossing on Moldavia's eastern frontier. A wooden fort attributed to Prince Stephen the Great guarded the ford and formed part of a wider chain of Moldavian defences. Between 1543 and 1546, under Petru Rareș, it was rebuilt in stone as a circular fortress with five towers. Its walls and gun positions reflected the need to defend this crossing against forces approaching along the river. During the wars between the Ottoman Empire and its neighbours the fortress remained important, including during Peter the Great's Pruth campaign in 1711. The town's position joined the movement of people and goods along the Dniester to the demands of a contested frontier.