Radu Vodă Monastery is a

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates i ...

monastery in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

History of the Place

Paleolithic

Because of its favorable environment and the elevated terrain close to a big river, the area of the monastery was inhabited starting from the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

(estimated somewhere between 1,000,000 and 10,000 BC). It is the site of the oldest known settlement on the territory of Romania. Following the Paleolithic settlement there was an uninterrupted settlement during the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

with tools from the Neolithic, the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

(1800–800 BC), and the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

(800 BC – AD 300).

The Dacian Era

The monastery is also the site of the remains of a fortified settlement from the Dacian Era (100 BC – AD 100).

History of the Monastery

The monastery was founded by

Alexandru II Mircea Alexandru II Mircea (3 March 1529 – 11 September 1577) was a Voivode or Prince of Wallachia from 1568 to 1574 and 1574 to 1577. He was the father of Mihnea II Turcitul. His parents were Mircea III Dracul and Maria Despina. Raised by the Turks i ...

(1568–1577) and his lady Ecaterina (Catherine) to give thanks for their victory in battle. It was intended to be the metropolitan church of the capital. The monastery was completely renovated during 1969–1974, on the initiative of

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

Justinian Marina Justinian Marina (; born Ioan Marina ) (February 2, 1901, in Suiești, Vâlcea County – March 26, 1977, in Bucharest) was a Romanian Orthodox prelate. He was the third patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, serving between 1948 and 1977. ...

. Upon his death in 1977, the patriarch was laid to rest in a grave in the interior wall of the monastery.

Location

Located at Radu Vodă Street, no. 24A on the banks of

Dâmbovița River Dâmbovița can refer to these places in Romania: * Dâmbovița County * Dâmbovița (river) * Dâmbovița Center The Dâmbovița Center (also named Casa Radio) is an unfinished building in Bucharest, Romania, near Cotroceni, on the shore of t ...

and close to the Romanian

Patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of Dominance hierarchy, dominance and Social privilege, privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical Anthropology, anthropological term for families or clans controll ...

Cathedral, the monastery is located right in the middle of Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It is a few hundred meters away from the exit of

Piața Unirii metro station Piața Unirii (''Union Square'') is a major metro station in Bucharest. It is located in the southern part of the city centre, in Union Square (''Piața Unirii'' in Romanian), and it is one of the busiest stations of the Bucharest Metro. It is ma ...

Gallery

File:Bucharest Day 4 - Radu Voda (9437029062).jpg, Gate File:Bucharest - Radu Vodă Monastery (28818397124).jpg File:Bucharest Day 4 - Radu Voda (9434249359).jpg, Courtyard File:Turn clopotniță - Mănăstirea Radu Vodă.JPG, Tower bell File:Clopotnita Radu Voda.JPG File:Flickr - fusion-of-horizons - Mănăstirea Radu Vodă (7).jpg File:Flickr - fusion-of-horizons - Mănăstirea Radu Vodă (1).jpg, Altar File:Flickr - fusion-of-horizons - Mănăstirea Radu Vodă (9).jpg File:Radu Voda si Mihai Voda sec XVIII.jpg, The 18th century

External links

Official Site

Bucharest Historical Monuments Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radu Voda Monastery Monasteries in Bucharest Romanian Orthodox churches in Bucharest Historic monuments in Bucharest Dacian fortresses in Romania