Văcărești Monastery

The Văcărești Monastery, built by Nicholas Mavrocordatos in 1716, was located on the Văcărești hill, nowadays near Piața Sudului. It was demolished in 1984 during the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu to make room for a Palace of Justice that was never built. It was the largest 18th-century monastery in Southeastern Europe and it had a church in the style of Curtea de Argeș Cathedral. It was also designed to be used as a fortress, and was seized in May 1771 by the Imperial Russian army, under commander Nikolai Vasilyeich Repnin, in the context of the Russo-Turkish War and Pârvu Cantacuzino's rebellion.Part of the buildings of the monastery were used as a prison. Inmates that were incarcerated at Văcărești Prison during the 20th century include Ioan Slavici, Tudor Arghezi, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and other members of the Iron Guard, and Richard Wurmbrand. The nearby hill was home to Arghezi's long-time resi