Mănăstirea Dealu

Mentioned in a documentary from the year 1431, the old wooden house was rebuilt from the ground up during the reign of Radu the Great and his brother Vlad the Younger (Vlăduț) between the years 1499-1501 and 1510-1512, being among the most valuable achievements religious architecture of the era.

It was painted between 1514-1515 by the famous painter Dobromir from Târgovişte, assisted by Jitian and Stanciu.

Suffering the robbery of Gabriel Bathory's troops, in January 1611, and the damages caused by the imperial general Heissler's troops in 1689, it was repaired in 1713 and repainted by the great master of Constantin Brâncoveanu, Constantin, helped by Preda, Nicolae and Radu.

Between the years 1845-1853, extensive works were carried out to restore the church and restore the cells initiated by ruler Gheorghe Bibescu, the church being repainted then by the painter A. Derigny.

Between 1912-1940, the Nicolae Filipescu Military High School operated here, which moved to Breaza following the devastating earthquake of 1940.

All the buildings that surround the Church today were rebuilt from the ground up between 1953-1958, by the care of Father Patriarch Justinian, and the church is the only building preserved from the old monastic complex.

The current painting in the church is new, made by the painter Archimandrite Sofian Boghiu. In the vestibule of the church, which became a royal crypt since 1456, there are the tombs of the voivods of Târgovişte: Vladislav II, Radu the Great and his sister Caplea, Vlad the Younger, Vlad the Impaler, Pătraşcu the Good, Mihai Movilă (lord of Moldavia , died in Târgovişte) and Radu Bădica.

In this holy place, where the anti-Ottoman alliance ended in 1598, he found his rest and the precious relic of our history, the bold head of the nation and country's integrator: MIHAI VITEAZU. As a tribute to the founders of culture and the country - Radu cel Mare and Michael the Brave, the white marble sarcophagi located on either side of the pronaos were built between 1912-1913, at the initiative of the Cultural League. Byzantine style of the sculptor Franz Storck.

Housing the press of the first prints from the Romanian territory, made by the monk Macarie: Liturghierul (1508), Octoihul (1510), Evangeliarul (1512), Dealu Monastery also asserted itself as the country's first artistic woodcut and miniature center.

The monument stands out for its strong originality in relation to the other places belonging to this construction type. The balance of the volumes, the slenderness and the classical sobriety of the lines give it an air of elegance, a perfect harmony of proportions. Currently it is a convent of nuns who combine prayer with work.

Text taken from the history of the monastery displayed at the entrance.