Royal court and capital city between 1396 and 1714, Târgoviște city had for more than three centuries the status as the most important economic, political-military and cultural-artistic centre of Wallachia.

       Târgovişte was the residence of important voivodes - 33 in total, country but also accent-loving princes, who developed permanently Târgovişte, being in those times an important European city considered by numerous travellers and diplomats the most famous cities of that time, "a Romanian Florence". The feudal development of the city was centred on an area around the Royal Court and fortification system (Şantul Cetăţii), which started semicirculary on Ialomiţa (between Teiş in the North and the actual neighbourhood Sârbi in the South – Bucureştilor Gate).
​      The three main areas of the city could be distinguished: Târgul de Sus - Suseni in the North, North-West, Royal Court in the central part and Târgul de Jos in the South, South-West, which gives even today a certain urban structure and texture. Its commercial function was a major coordinate of the city due to the role of capital city and to its geographical position on the trajectory of important European and Oriental commercial routes. We thus mention the role of the central square, of periodical fairs with important Romanian and foreign trade-offs. The demographical evolution shows important variations: approximately 60.000 inhabitants in the time of Matei Basarab, 7812 inhabitants in 1900, approximately 100.000 inhabitants at the end of the ‘80s, in the present being approximately 80.000.

    Târgovişte Municipality is the residence of Dâmboviţa County since 1968. The archaeological digging carried out in the territory and in the vicinities of the city proved that this region was inhabited even from the Neolithic. The first documented mention appears later, in a travel record from 1396 belonging to John Schildberg. Benefiting from a very favourable geographical position at the contact between the foothill plain with the same name and Subcarpathians, on the right shore of Ialomiţei, Târgovişte – is a name with an important significance in the national history and culture. 
       Nowadays Târgovişte Municipality falls within the category of medium cities, having an important touristic function because it has a large variety of touristic attractions – historical, cultural and architectural monuments.