Dealul Mitropoliei

The monastic complex was surrounded by walls, like a citadel; beginning in 1698, access to the monastery yard was provided by the bell tower built by Constantin Brâncoveanu.

Three stone crosses stood within the yard: one in memory of Metropolitan Teodosie (d. 1708), another in honour of General Miloradovich (d. 1825), and one commemorating the 1655 revolt of the seimeni, during the reign of Constantin Șerban, against the boyars.

[1] Attempting to free the assembly from popular pressure, the Wallachian caimacam's office decided to move two battalions of troops in the middle of the masses on the hill and to use force to disperse them.

Due to pressure from the masses and the desire to avoid a bloodbath, General Barbu Vlădoianu was compelled to order his troops to return to their barracks.

On the evening of January 23 the conservatives realised that they could not depend on the army to sustain their position, so the following day the assembly voted unanimously to support Vasile Boerescu's motion that Cuza be proclaimed prince of Moldavia and Wallachia.

Booths line the slope of the hill and religious objects such as beeswax candles, prayer books and icons are sold there; the complex is guarded by Romanian Army soldiers.

On major feast days such as Pascha, dense crowds throng the hill, a practice that did not abate even under the Communist regime.

Broadly speaking, the building is a copy of Curtea de Argeş Cathedral; the cupolas resemble those of Neagoe Basarab's church.

The inscription, in verses by the poet Dimitrie Notara, is imprecise: Nicolae Mavrocordat and Metropolitan Daniil Topoloveanu (1719–1731) are presented as being its founders, when in fact they were its restorers.

Ion Iliescu, President of Romania, performed the unveiling in the presence of other dignitaries, including Prime Minister Adrian Năstase and Patriarch Teoctist.

[6] Patriarch Teoctist noted that the location chosen was not random, but linked to the fact that it was on Dealul Mitropoliei that Cuza was elected prince.

The sun clock (ceasornicul de soare) or mid-day cannon (tunul meridian) was located on the hill; its exact position is unknown but it was in the vicinity of the bell tower.

These two elements were placed such that the sun's rays focused on the lens, after which the resulting solar energy made contact with the cannon's gunpowder.