Radu Vodă Monastery is a

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

monastery in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

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 ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

(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 or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

with tools from the Neolithic, the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

(1,800–800 BC), and the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

(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 ...

(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 Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

Justinian Marina Justinian Marina (; born Ioan Marina ; February 2, 1901 – March 26, 1977) was a Romanian Orthodox prelate. He was the third patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, serving between 1948 and 1977. Parish priest in the Râmnic Diocese I ...

. 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 County (; also spelt Dîmbovița) is a county () of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Târgoviște, the most important economic, political, administ ...

and close to the Romanian

Patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

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 ...

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 16th-century Romanian Orthodox monasteries