Once upon a time, when enemies were raiding the country from both east and west, a fortress was built on the Dniester. First of wood, then of stone, it began to surround the borders of the country. And because it was on the bank of the Dniester, and with high spires, a few pairs of white birds set their eyes on it and began to make nests. The town’s arsonist, who was a bit severe about his own, wanted to destroy the nests, but the soldiers asked him to spare them – it was the beautiful clucking of the storks that woke them up early in the morning. The birds lived in peace and quiet and raised their young…

And then came the black day when the enemy besieged the city. For days and days there was fighting, and the food in the fortress had already run out, but the Moldovan soldiers were saved by the water from the well. The soldiers were powerless, but they held out against the enemy. But one day, the Turks found out that the Moldovans had drinking water, and they did what they did and poisoned the water in the fortress. Moldovan soldiers started dying. And look, when it was hardest, grapes started falling from above. The soldiers who were left alive looked up to the sky and saw how hundreds of cuckoos were rolling over the fortress, and in their beaks they were carrying grapes of pomace, which they threw at the feet of the Moldavians… So the legend goes, that in this way the birds thanked the people for not destroying their nests, and when the hour of trouble came, they jumped to the people’s aid. The fortress of Soroci resisted the enemies and to this day stands guard on the banks of the old Dniester…

Note: Soroca Fortress dates back to 1499