The Monuments on the Patriarchate Hill [antikvár]

THE small hills which watch over the city of Bucharest towardsthe south-west, in spite of their modest dimensions have hadparticular significance for this city which lies in a plain. The Romanian markettowns which could not develop within the precincts of fortification beltsduring the Turkish occupation often used such natural bulwarks for their defenceand, starting from the 16th century, they were gradually supplied with a monas-tery which was fortified like a walled city. The "Winegrowers' Hill" as it wascalled at that epoch, situated in the middle of the town which step by stepencompassed it, was the only one to have but a small wooden hermitage builton it, according to the tradition, by a certain Oprea Iuzbaça.