A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to travel to a pretty far place from where I am currently living (8 hours of driving, to be more precise), and which I also ended up visiting just 2 or 3 times since I started travelling.
It wasn't a planned trip with the meaning of exploring the surroundings, but more like visiting someone, and it still remained like this until, on one of the days I got to spend there, I ended up driving a bit around, which also brought to my attention a really unique and interesting place.
It's not only about the statue which weights heavy in the past of Romania, but more like how everything was arranged.
While we get to see statues of Stephen the Great (Ștefan cel Mare) pretty often in more cities in Romania, this one was placed strategically on top of the hill, where the whole path leading to it was no less interesting. Actually, what you can see in the picture from above is also the view I got to have while driving on the road that crosses right in front of this.
No need to say that although it wasn't a planned stop along the way, I did have to stop and make my way towards the top of the hill, also being a good excuse to take a break from everything was going on back in that day.
After parking the car into an improvised parking lot right in front of the monument, I first got to walk next to some kiosks that it's more commonly to see them being used either for selling tickets or souvenirs, but that was not the case back then, because they were not open, and I doubt a fee will ever be requested to visit a monument.
Anyway, right after these tiny chalets, there was another thing that caught my attention, which was a small park decorated with plenty of miniatures of castles that one can visit at their real size in, and around Romania. But more about this, a bit later.
I am not sure how many stairs I had to climb before reaching the monument, but even though it was incredibly hot back then, it still felt like a great journey one could have, since I ended up surrounded by so many other details that caught my attention other than the statue itself.
Actually, a bit earlier than reaching the middle of the journey up to the top of the hill, there were two walls no less interesting, which are depicting Stephen the Great in two different moments, the first one representing a reenactment of the voivode receiving the Ottoman delegation, while the 2nd one shows Stephen being among the common people.
As I walked a bit further, I noticed a place which seemed more like an open-air amphitheatre, whose real purpose I couldn't understand back then, but as soon as I reached home and did my research for this blog post, I found out that this region weighed so heavily in the past of Romania that many of the students who excelled academically were awarded here and promoted to the rank of Pioneer.
Perhaps that's not the single reason, but it still felt nice seeing a special place organised for some cultural/educational activities while still encouraging tourism.
Once I reached the statue, everything felt completely different.
Suddenly, it wasn't about the journey on the way to the top or about all the other details that caught my attention so far, but about a statue which was requesting respect with no words.
Don't get me wrong, I've seen statues of Stephen the Great before, but this one felt extremely different.
That could be because we are speaking about a region in Romania where Stephen the Great fought against the Ottomans not too far from this place, through terrible weather conditions and still won the war. Nevertheless, if Moldavia had not had such a voievode, Romania would look so much different now, in the 21st century.
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The total weight of the statue is estimated around 19 tonnes, measuring almost 7 meters in height the statue alone, while the base is put on, adds 8 more meters to the overall height.
The Equestrian Statue of Stephen the Great is made entirely of bronze, just like the other two walls met along the way and I showed pictures of, a bit earlier.
There wasn't much of a view from up there, because we are speaking about a quite modest region of Romania, but even so, all the empty surroundings felt like bowing to the monument, and leaving all the space needed to catch as much attention as possible, because, in fact, we are speaking about one of the greatest voievodes Romania had, and one of the main elements in the country's overall past and history.
On the way back to the car, I did not forget about the tiny world of castles that were built here and there and which caught my attention quite a lot when I first noticed them.
Actually, Romania has one or two themed parks with miniatures of more important tourist attractions that are open to visitors, but what I got to see at The Equestrian Statue of Stephen the Great was a bit different because they were all still linked to the voivode, and not just some other suggestions of what one could visit while being in Romania.
This is, actually, entitled something like "In the Footsteps of Stephen the Great" and it represents a complex of 9 miniatures depicting the most important medieval fortresses built or reinforced during the reign of Stephen the Great with the purpose of protecting Moldavia from various threats.
- Suceava Citadel (Cetatea de Scaun a Sucevei)
This was the primary princely residence and administrative heart of Moldavia during Stephen the Great’s reign.
The ruler heavily reinforced it by doubling its outer walls and digging a deep defensive moat, making it virtually impregnable, which also proved successful in withstanding even the massive Ottoman siege led by Mehmed II in 1476.
- Neamț Citadel
Perched on a steep rocky spur, this fortress guarded the mountain passes leading into Transylvania.
Stephen the Great raised its walls, added four bastions, and built the famous arched bridge supported by stone pillars, turning it into one of the strongest inland points of resistance.
- Akkerman (Cetatea Albă)
Strategically located where the Dniester River meets the Black Sea, it was Moldavia’s most important commercial port and southern defensive hub.
Stephen strengthened its walls to safeguard maritime trade, and its capture by the Ottomans in 1484 was one of the heaviest blows to the country’s economy and defense.
- Chilia Fortress
Situated at the mouth of the Danube, Chilia, alongside Cetatea Albă, formed the "key" to Moldavia's southern defense.
Stephen the Great conquered it in 1465 and completely rebuilt it from the ground up in record time, erecting a new stone fortress on the left bank of the Danube that he fiercely defended until it fell in 1484.
- Hotin Fortress
Standing guard on the northern border along the Dniester River, Hotin was meant to block invasions from Poland and the Tatars.
Stephen the Great significantly expanded it southward, constructing thick stone walls decorated with red brick geometric patterns and building a church inside its courtyard.
- Tighina Fortress
Located on the right bank of the Dniester, it watched over a major river crossing and eastern trade routes.
Originally an earth-and-timber fortification, it was reinforced during Stephen’s reign and integrated into the Dniester defensive line before later being rebuilt in stone after the Ottoman conquest.
- The New Fortress of Roman (Cetatea Nouă a Romanului)
This is the only fortress built entirely from scratch on the orders of Stephen the Great (in 1466), along the Siret River.
Constructed of stone and featuring circular towers specifically designed to withstand artillery fire, its purpose was to protect the southern trade route and the heartland of Moldavia.
- Soroca Fortress
Positioned on the right bank of the Dniester River, Soroca guarded the eastern border and river crossings against Tatar invasions.
During Stephen the Great’s reign, a wooden and earth fortification was built here (later rebuilt in stone by his son, Petru Rareș), forming a crucial link in the Dniester defensive chain alongside Hotin and Tighina.
- Putna Monastery
Founded and built by Stephen the Great between 1466 and 1469, Putna is his most important religious foundation and his final resting place.
Because of the turbulent times, it was constructed like a true fortress—surrounded by thick defensive walls, heavy buttresses, and watchtowers (such as the famous Treasury Tower) designed to protect both the monks and the royal treasures during sieges.
The monument is situated directly on DN24 (the European road E581/E583 area connecting Vaslui to Bârlad), roughly 8-10 kilometers south of the city of Vaslui, and you can reach it by heading south on DN24 toward Bârlad. The complex is easy to spot on the roadside in the historic area where the famous 1475 battle took place.
If you don't have a car, you can take a regional bus or microbus travelling on the Vaslui-Bârlad route, and you can ask the driver to let you off at the Podul Înalt memorial site in Băcăoani.
Gabriela Travels is a Curator for Worldmappin and Hive Gaming communities, but also the FOUNDER of "Festival Mania" who started this community from the passion of attending various festivals and with the purpose of encouraging more people to explore festivals all around the world and share their experiences. At the same time, Gabriela is an independent Graphic Design Freelancer since 2019 completing over 600+ orders in this time and collaborating with various businesses and people from all over the globe. Additionally, Gabriela has her own corner on the internet since 2017 where she writes various articles for her blog, the most popular being the travel ones (350+ articles written on this field), but also approaching other topics as well, like game and book reviews, lets plays, movie and series reviews, photography posts, cooking recipes and more, boosting the total number of articles written to 850+ blog posts. Gabriela is also a gamer since she was 11 years old and gaming remains one of her biggest passions along with traveling, owning a YouTube channel for each of the two.
~ @GabrielaTravels ~
