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DEThe first church dates back to the end of the fourteenth or early fifteenth century, from the time of Mircea the Elder and being one of the oldest church built by a voivode, suffering little change over time, although it was not spared the harsh times that affected Wallachia.
In its place, ruler Radu the Great (1495-1508) built a big brick-stone church and adorned in a special way. The church was not completely finished, and its painting was to be made during the reign of Neagoe Basarab
In 1610 it was partially destroyed by the hostile prince Gabriel Bathory, who occupied the city of Targoviste during the reign of Radu Serban.
Partially destroyed, plundered, desolate and profane, this monastery, subjected to heavy attempts, impressed over time many rulers who, in turn, rebuilt, consolidated, partially or completely restored the buildings that make up the monastic assembly. Among them are: Radu Mihnea, Matei Basarab, Constantin Brancoveanu, Gheorghe Bibescu.
From 1912 this became a barracks and military high school Nicolae Filipescu, until 1940 when after the earthquake the church bells, the upper part of the bell tower and the buildings of the high school were destroyed. The high school moves to Predeal and the church and the rest of the buildings stay in the sidelines for the next years.
After its renewal and reconstruction from 1958 to 1986, the complex was transformed into a sanatorial and rest house for the priests and elderly monks of the Romanian Patriarchy’s Pension and Aid House, after which it became a monastery for nuns in communes depending on the Archdiocese of Bucharest, and at present on that of Targoviste.
In the narthex of the church, which is considered to be one of the largest funerary places in the country, are sleeping forever voivodes, gentlemen and church faces. To the one who admires the grave stones is revealed a fragment of our history, for the inscriptions on each stone testify something about the one who has found rest under it.
Here are those buried here in their chronological order:
Vlad Dracul, Vladislav II, Radu cel Mare, Jupaniţa Caplea, Vlăduţ Voievod or Vlad the Young, Radu Voda Bădica, Vlad Înecatul, Patrascu Voda cel Bun.
In 1603, by the special care of Radu Buzescu, the head of the Prince Mihai Viteazul (1592-1601) was buried on the right side of the narthex, on the stone of which is written: “Here is the honest and the late head of the Christian Prince Mihai, the great voevod, ruler of Wallachia and Transylvania and Moldavia.”
Of all these graves, those that are particularly remarkable are those of Radu the Great and Mihai Voievod Viteazul, arranged on both sides of the entrance to the nave. The joining of the two voivodes, so different as temperament – one famous for the pacifist spirit and the other for his battles – can only lead us to the fact that the Lord’s judgments are mysterious, and the ways of history that confront us with such situations, seemingly contradictory, tangled.
