Fundeni, Bucharest

Fundeni is a district in the northeastern outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, on the left bank of the Colentina River, downstream of Plumbuita Monastery and near the Fundeni Lake that was formed on the river. On its west and north-west are located the Colentina and Andronache neighbourhoods, on its north the town of Voluntari and on its east the commune of Dobroești.

Its name is derived from the Romanian word ("bottom") and the toponym refers to the people who came from or lived on the bottom of a valley.

The village of Fundeni was built in a place isolated from Bucharest by the Colentina River and its lakes. Without a direct road towards Bucharest, the only way to reach the city was through the road that led to Afumați, Ilfov. Another crossing was found in the place where now the railway bridge between Obor railway station and the Bucharest-Constanța railway. Fundeni was surrounded of forests, one of which, Grădiștea, is mentioned in a June 13, 1634 document which tells about the priest of the village who became a monk and built his own small church and hermitage in the middle of the forest.

The village was first mentioned in 1559, when Prince Mircea Ciobanul gave a deed of property to a certain Baldovin and his sister Neacșa, who inherited parts of the domain of Fundeni from their father and showed the prince some older documents which proved their ownership. From these documents, it is clear that the village was much older and that initially it was inhabited by free men. Throughout the 17th century, there are documents which prove that there were various landlords who owned parts of the Fundeni estate, being owned by Logofăt Stanciu, Spătar Miho, Clucer Tomeanul and Logofăt Vâlcul. Starting with the end of the 16th and 17th centuries, the land ownership is concentrated into just a few landlords.

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Wikipedia