Set atop one of the city's few hills, known as Mitropoliei, the Patriarchal Cathedral has been the centrepiece of the Romanian Orthodox faith since the seventeenth century. Built to a design based on the Curtea de Arges, near Pitesti, it has undergone a number of facelifts, but the overwhelming majority of the cathedral's structure is the original, built between 1654 and 1658. The outstanding bell-tower at the entrance was built in 1698, and restored in 1958. Next to the church - and closed to the public - is the Patriarchal Palace, residence of Daniel Ciobotea, the recently elected Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. It was built in 1708.