The large bronze equestrian statue depicts Michael the Brave on horseback, surrounded by his advisors and generals. Mihai Viteazul, born in 1558 in Târgu de Floci, Wallachia, was voivode, or ruler, of Wallachia from 1593 to 1600. For a brief period (in 1600, to be precise), he was the de facto first joint ruler of the three medieval states that make up present-day Romania: Wallachia, Transylvania, and Moldavia. Therefore, Michael the Brave became an idol for all nationalists who sought the unification of these territories in the 20th century.