048 - Romania

The princely church was built in 1352 under Basarab I on the place of the XIII century Saint Nicholas church. The forefront is narrow and domed, with a cupola in the centre; the nave is square, domed, of large proportions. The tower rises above the four pillars bearing the arches.

The paintings covering the walls date back to voivode Vlaicu’s time (1364-1366.) Some of the paintings are from the XVIII century. Altogether there are around 130 wall paintings. The outside look is defined by the alternation of stone and brick layers.

For a long time the church served as a burial place for rulers of Muntenia. One of them was voivode Vlaicu. In his tomb archeologists found a number of XIV century artifacts, among which the belt buckle from Arges.
In 1992, when the princely court, Curtea de Arges, was being renovated a piece of paper was found which says that voivode Basarab, i.e. Basarab I ruling between 1310 and 1352, and the founder of the independent feudal state of Muntenia, died in 6860 (i.e. 1352) in Câmpulung. I Basarab was also buried in the churh.
His tomb is displayed under glass. One can also see a few pieces of an overlord’s clothing with gold and silver inlay.