Scheia Citadel, built during the reign of Voivode Petru I (1374-1392), is the oldest stone citadel built by the rulers of Moldavia. Located on the foot of the Şeptilici hill and having a rhomboidal shape with towers in the corners, the citadel rises 84 meters above the Scheiei profile, approximately 2.5 km northwest of the center of Suceava. The three-meter-thick walls, made of river boulders, enclose an area of approximately 1,300 square meters, with the sides of the rhombus measuring 36 meters. A defensive ditch, accompanied by a mound of earth, separates the butt of the hill from the current plateau, where the Zamca monastery is located about 300 meters away.
Although archaeological evidence indicates that Scheia Citadel was completed, it was not inhabited or used. It was systematically dismantled, and the stone was probably used in other constructions during the first years of Alexander the Good's reign. Currently, 8 km from Suceava, in a beautiful forest of oaks, beeches and pines, there is a picturesque place of recreation and rest for the inhabitants of Suceava.
Source: Bucharest-Suceava and in Northern Moldova (Ministry of Tourism, 1977)
