Soroca

Zemstva of Soroca, 18th-19th century

The city has its origin in the medieval Genoese trade post of Olchionia, or Alchona. It is known for its well-preserved stronghold, established by the Moldavian prince Stephen the Great (Ştefan cel Mare in Romanian) in 1499.[3] The origins of the name Soroca are not fully known. Its location is only a few kilometers from the Moldova-Ukrainian border.

The original wooden fort, which defended a ford over the Dniester, was an important link in the chain of fortifications which comprised four forts (e.g. Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, then known as Akkerman, and Khotyn) on the Dniester, two forts on the Danube and three forts on the north border of medieval Moldova. Between 1543 and 1546 under the rule of Peter IV Rareș, the fort was rebuilt in stone as a perfect circle with five bastions situated at equal distances.

During the Great Turkish War, John III Sobieski's forces successfully defended the fort against the Ottomans. It was of vital military importance during the Pruth River Campaign of Peter the Great in 1711. The stronghold was sacked by the Russians in the Austro-Russian–Turkish War (1735–39). The Soroca Fort is an important attraction in Soroca, having preserved cultures and kept the old Soroca in the present day.

The locality was greatly extended in the 19th century, during a period of relative prosperity. Soroca became a regional center featuring large squares, modernized streets, hospitals, grammar schools and conventionalized churches. In the Soviet period, the city became an important industrial center for northern Moldova.[4]

Soroca was known for producing grapes, wheat, maize, and tobacco in 1919.[3]

The climate in Soroca is a warm-summer subtype (Köppen: Dfb) of the humid continental climate.

The population was estimated at 35,000 in 1919. It consisted mainly of Jews. Romanians, Germans and Russians also lived in the city.[3] The city once had a Jewish population of around 18,000 but they are only 100 today and 20 of them are considered Jewish according to the halakha.[6]

In 2012, Soroca had an estimated 37,500 inhabitants.

The city has a sizable Romani (Gypsy) minority and is popularly known as the "Romani capital of Moldova."[7]

The Mayor of Soroca is head of the executive branch of Soroca City Council.[8]

• Samuel Bronfman (1889–1971), a Canadian entrepreneur, former owner of Seagram
• Alexandru Cimbriciuc
• Arkady Gendler - Yiddish Singer
• Sofia Imber, a Venezuelan journalist, founder of the Contemporary Art Museum of Caracas
• Isaac Kitrosser, French photojournalist
• Anna Mincovschi, mother of Robert Hossein
• Kira Muratova, a Soviet and Ukrainian film director, screenwriter and actress
• Nicolae Soltuz, a member of Sfatul Țării
• Robert Steinberg, a Canadian mathematician
• Leonte Tismăneanu, a Romanian communist activist
• Eugen Ţapu (1983–2009), a protester in the post-election riots in Chișinău who died while in police custody
• Gheorghe Ursu (1926–1985), a Romanian construction engineer and dissident

• Observatorul de Nord, a newspaper from Soroca, founded in 1998[12][13]
• Vocea Basarabiei, 67,69 and 103.1

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  Thanksgiving Candle can be seen at night from Otaci and Camenca.
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  Soroca Fort
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  Soroca Fort
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  Rudi Monastery
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  Mihai Eminescu
• 
  Soroca 1898 local stamp

• History of the Jews in Bessarabia
• Romani people in Romania
• Armenians in Moldova

• Soroki/Soroca (pp. 376–380) at Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots Foundation

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Soroca.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Soroca.

• Soroca, Moldova at JewishGen