Plumbuita Monastery

In order to rid himself of boyar opponents, the ruler had sent them to support his Moldavian counterpart in fighting Poland at the Battle of Obertyn.

Reportedly, after Vlad was assassinated by drowning the following year, his widow Ana ordered that the construction site be sealed with lead (plumbuită).

The document mentions several ktetors: Peter, Alexander II Mircea and especially Mihnea and his mother Catherine Salvaresso, who are credited with building "a most beautiful large church".

In 1647, Matei Basarab re-founded the monastery in memory of his victory over Radu Iliaș and of his fallen supporters.

The work begun by Basarab was the most ample until the early 19th century, especially involving the bell tower and church.

An 1838 registry notes the presence of the wooden-roofed abbot's (princely) house, a masonry kitchen building and monastic cells, all in good repair.

In 1848, the Imperial Russian forces occupying the area proposed transforming the monastery into a prison, a situation that lasted sporadically until the 1863 secularization of monastic estates.

[1] The monastery is situated within an irregularly shaped courtyard oriented from southwest to northeast, itself located inside an orchard that contains several structures, such as the bell foundry.

Unusually, it is oriented to the northeast, giving the nave an irregular trapezoidal shape, rather than the typical square.

It resembles the porticoes at Plătărești, Flămânda and especially Gura Motrului, which has equally high and narrow arches and the same full wall, in the center of the western facade, with an opening for the portal and a niche for the patron saint's icon.

The exterior facades are divided into two equal sections by a massive three-row string course typical of the 16th century.