marți, 26 august 2008

About Suceava

Suceava (pronunciation in Romanian: /su'ʧa.va/; Polish: Suczawa, Ukrainian: Сучава, Yiddish: שאַץ / Shats) is the capital city of the Suceava County, Bukovina, northeastern Romania.The city covers two types of geographical areas - the hills (of which the highest point is the Zamca Hill) and the meadows of the Suceava River valley. The unusual configuration of Suceava City includes two groves - Zamca and Şipote - which are both located within the city limits. Burdujeni, one of the neighbourhoods, is connected to the rest of the city through an avenue, making it resemble a satellite town of Suceava.

One supposition considers the name Suceava of dacian origin, being derived from davă ("fort"). Dimitrie Cantemir in his famous work Descriptio Moldavie gives the origin of the name as Hungarian : Szűcsvár, meaning city of furriers.

View of the city from fortress remains. The Church of St. Demetrius is visible in the distance.

View of the city from fortress remains. The Church of St. Demetrius is visible in the distance.

The city of Suceava was for long the capital of the Moldavian state and main residence of the Moldavian princes (between 1388 and 1565). During the rule of Alexandru Lăpuşneanu, the seat was moved to Iaşi.

Together with the rest of Bukovina (of which it was the main administrative center), Suceava was under the rule of the Habsburg Monarchy (later Austria-Hungary) from 1775 to 1918; the border of Habsburg domains passed just south-east of the city. At the end of World War I, it became part of Greater Romania.