In day of yore, on the Mount of Cozia there had existed quite a lot of hermitages whose monastic cells were carved into rocks; some of them have been preserved around the Turnu Monastery to the present day.
The small church building, whose patronal feast is the “Presentation of the Mother of God to the Temple”, was constructed (1676) on the site of an earlier wooden church building, which had been founded by Varlaam, Bishop of Ramnic and Metropolitan of Wallachia.
The architecture of the monastic establishment followed the architectural pattern of the Cozia Veche (Old) Monastery. His Grace, the Right Reverend Gherasim Timus, Bishop of Arges (within the period 1894-1911) ordered a start to be made on the reconstruction of the monaster, but unfortunately a disastrous fire that burst out in 1932 inflicted widespread damage on it. Only the house of Bishop Gherasim Timus and the old monastic cells that were situated in the valley did escape the catastrophe. Soon afterwords, namely in 1933, the monastic complex of the earlier establishment was reconstructed.
The main church building was erected by His Grace, the Right Reverend Gherasim Timus, within the years 1897 and 1901. It was designed in the shape of a square and was provided with a tall belfry tower placed in the middle of the structure, as well as with four wooden towers placed in the four corners of the structure.
Within period 1935-1938, the church building and the entire monastic complex were renovated; during the same period of time, several one-storeyed monastic cells were also constructed. Furthermore, a school for church singers had been accommodated within the monastery grounds up until 1949.