Strehaia

Strehaia was an early seat of the Craiovești boyars, a family whose influence extended across Oltenia and the court of Wallachia. Their estate and church stood at the heart of the settlement. For a time Strehaia housed the ban, the chief official of Oltenia, before the seat moved to Craiova at the end of the fifteenth century; the village retained its connection to the family and their descendants.

Prince Matei Basarab, himself connected to the Craiovești, rebuilt the monastery church in 1645. The monastery became one of the important princely foundations of Oltenia. Between 1673 and 1688 it also housed the bishopric of Strehaia, established for Daniil, a former metropolitan of Sofia who had fled to Wallachia. Its jurisdiction covered the district of Mehedinți.