AN IMPORTANT PLACE OF WORSHIP: THE FOUNDATION OF THE RUDENI BOYARS FROM FLĂMÂNDA, THE FORMER HISTORICAL ARGES COUNTY (THE END OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY - THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY)

Built by Teodosie Rudeanu at the end of the sixteenth century, the monastic settlement of Flămânda, the former historical county of Arges, was part of a system of defense and refuge in the face of the external dangers, but it also served as a place of prayer for the members of the Rudeanu people, a large family of boyars from Muntenia, and not only. The land, on which the Flămânda monastery, was built was bought by Teodosie from Turcin's descendants during the first reign of Mihnea II, the voivode of Wallachia (1577-1583), when the former owners, the boyars Vlădeni and Slăvitești, went into exile. During the reign of Mihnea III Radu (1658-1659), Teodosie's successors sued the descendants of the Slăvitești and Vlădești for the land on which Teodosie built a small monastery near Topologu River, dedicated to the „Holy Apostles Peter and Paul”. The former Flămânda hermitage was in the care of the Rudeni boyars until 1699, when the descendants of the great chancellor Tudosie gave it to the bishop Ilarion, thus becoming the metochion of the diocese of Râmnicu. The Topolog hermitage owned the estates of the Baiasii on the Topolog, Turcenesti, Gardesti and Ninasesti, the former county of Arges. Of these, the Ninasesti estate belonged for a short time to the Flămânda hermitage, because the Govora Monastery claimed this estate, which they owned in the past. These estates became the property of the place of worship through the reinforcement documents issued by the chancelleries of some rulers, such as Gavril Movilă, Alexandru Coconul, or they were donated to the hermitage by the Rudeni boyars. In the narthex of the church, on the east wall, there are the portraits of the founders: Teodosie, the son of the great chancellor Ivan from Ruda and the mistress Stanca, but also there are two tombstones, where the two spouses were buried. The church of the former Flămânda hermitage presents the features of a classical architecture, specific to the sixteenth century, with a high, elegant structure. It is part of the trilobate churches, characterised by the building of a second tower above the narthex.