Neamt Fortress

Neamț Fortress stands above the Ozana valley on a ridge overlooking routes through the eastern Carpathians. Archaeological evidence places its construction in the later reign of Petru I Mușat, in the second half of the fourteenth century. The first certain documentary mention came in 1395, during a campaign by Sigismund of Luxembourg into Moldavia. A royal document issued near the fortress that February is a rare point where the stone structure enters the written record.

The fortification changed as weapons and military needs changed. Under Stephen the Great, its defences were strengthened with a deeper moat and rounded bastions designed to better withstand artillery. The location gave defenders a view of the valley and the approaches, but it also made the fortress visible as a statement of princely authority. It was a military structure and a landmark in the landscape around Târgu Neamț.