Neamt Castle is an absolutely fantastic site to visit in north eastern Romania with a very unusual entrance. Built by Romania’s warrior king, Stephen the Great, in the fourteenth century the castle was an effective barrier against both the Turks and Poles. The castle has been well restored after falling into decay when its military usefulness declined.
Visiting Neamt Castle
The castle is well sign posted and we drove up the winding access road and parked outside. I don’t recall there being a cafe but there were toilets and a shop from memory.
My Experience
Our visit to Neamt Castle was as part of a two week road trip through Romania and Bulgeria, detailed in my blog here. We were staying near Bran Castle and had a night in the north of the country to see the painted monasteries. We left around 8 to drive towards the Moldavan border and some spectacular scenery. The roads got worse rather than better and the driving didn’t let you relax for a minute.
The vastness of the Danube basin is difficult to envisage but we certainly had some ‘big sky’ views. The countryside was incredibly rural, that may seem obvious but I mean that we saw shepherds tending flocks of sheep, goats or cattle – ever seen that in the UK? Horses on the roads towing carts were fairly common, sometimes with hay in the carts, sometimes people. There were little old women wearing black and headscarves that could have come from anywhere in SE Europe or the Middle East.
Maybe half the new houses were unfinished, not sure if the owners were in Western Europe and sending money back piecemeal to finish building or if they just got bored. Lots of the older houses were very run down, like a lot of places it seems maintenance happens less than just letting something fall down and building a new one.
After maybe 6 hours driving we reached Neamt which had an incredible castle. I had to restrain Debbie from leaping out of the car and rushing up the hill such was her enthusiasm! The castle was built as a defence against the Turks and had a pretty unique design. It had also been largely restored so you could actually see what it looked like rather than just being a tumble of ruins. After walking back down the wooded path we headed to our hotel in Guru Humorului which was another 90 minute drive, most of it at 30mph….
Neamt Castle Photo Gallery
History
Neamt Citadel (Cetatea Neamt or Cetatea Neamtului) with its near perfect vertical walls, constructed based on a remarkable engineering design, proved to be indestructible. Even Muhammad II, the conqueror of Constantinople, was kept outside the city by the great walls.
The construction of the medieval fortress started during Peter I of Moldova’s reign, but developed further during the reign of Stephen the Great. The citadel was part of Moldavia’s defense system and was built to withstand attack from enemy. One of the glory moments of the fortress was in 1961. That year, the Poles led by Ioan Sobieski launched an attack, but the Neamt Citadel prevented them from passing; the impenetrable fortress protected the city.
A famous Romanian writer from the 19th century, Costache Negruzzi, described this battle in his work. The novelette is called “Sobieski si Romanii” (Sobieski and the Romanians). A film with the same name depicting the battle was also produced, under the direction of Emil Garleanu.
The fortress of Neamt is located in the western part of Targu Neamt and is very often compared to a nest of eagles. Quite right, because this “eagle’s nest” was attacked by enemies for many years.
During the reign of Peter I, a central square-shaped fort was built. Thick walls of 2-3 meters and 12 meters high were built over this foundation. The walls were provided with battlements and cannons, to ensure protection on every corner.
The second stage of the construction was done during the reign of Stephen the Great, when 800 square meters of exterior courtyard and new defense walls were assigned to the fortress. During the same period, the old walls were raised by adding more rows of stones (almost 20 meters) and a large defense entrenchment of 15 meters long and 25 meters was dug.
References
The castle site with opening times is here but all the info is in Romanian.
A detailed review of the castle is on this site here.
Another excellent site for this castle is here.
The history above is copied from this site here, with an excellent visitors guide to the castle.