Văcărești, Bucharest

Văcărești (Romanian pronunciation: [vəkəˈreʃtʲ]) is a neighbourhood in south-eastern Bucharest, located near Dâmboviţa River and the Văcăreşti Lake. Nearby neighbourhoods include Vitan, Olteniței, and Berceni. Originally a village, it was incorporated into Bucharest as it expanded. Its name is related to the Wallachian aristocratic Văcărescu family, with an etymology leading back to the Romanian , "cow-herder," and the suffix -eşti.

The Văcăreşti Monastery, built by Nicholas Mavrocordatos in 1716, was located on the Văcărești hill, nowadays near Piața Sudului, but it was demolished in 1984 during the regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu 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 Argeş Cathedral. It was also designed to be used as a fortress, and was seized by the Russian army, under commander Nicholas Repnin, in May 1771 (in the context of the Russo-Turkish War and Pârvu Cantacuzino's rebellion).

Part of the buildings of monastery were used as prison. Inmates that were incarcerated at Văcăreşti prison include Richard Wurmbrand, Tudor Arghezi, Ioan Slavici, as well as Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and other members of the Iron Guard. The nearby hill was home to Arghezi's long-time residence, the house he nicknamed Mărţişor (nowadays a museum).