STEPHEN THE GREAT AND HOLY COMMEMORATION/ The Bell Tower of Piatra Neamt

Also known as the Tower of Stephen, the bell tower, along with St. John the Baptist Church, in its close proximity, make up the Royal Court architectural compound of Piatra Neamt. More elegant than any other similar structures erected by Stephen the Great, the tower of Piatra Neamt was built of unpolished stones, one year after the consecration of the church on October 28, 1499.

Well-preserved, with no important ulterior modifications, the tower, of a prismatic shape with a side of 5.80 m, stood 19 m high. Erstwhile used to watch out for fires, the tower was functional as a watching tower as well since the end of the 19th century, when a watching terrace was added. In 1861, a clock was mounted on it imported from Vienna.

July 2 marks the commemoration of 510 years since the death of Moldovan ruler Stephen the Great (ruling between 1457-1504), one of the most important Romanian figures of the Middle Ages. On June 20, 1992, he was sanctified by the Romanian Orthodox Church as Pious Voivode Stephen the Great and Holy.