Văratec Monastery is a Romanian Orthodox women's monastery located in north-eastern part of the country, in Văratec village, Agapia Commune, Neamț County. It is situated at 12 km from Târgu Neamț and 40 km from Piatra Neamț. It is the largest community of nuns in Romania, with more than 400 nuns living there.
The monastery was founded in 1785 by Schema nun Olimpiada, with her confessor, Father Iosif. In this work, mother Olimpiada was guided by Father Paisius Velichkovsky, hegumen of Neamț Monastery. The monastery was set under the guidance of Agapia Monastery, which was close by, and afterwards the Monastery became an independent monastery in 1839.
Massive stone walls enclose the main church, "The Dormition of the Virgin Mary," the abbot's building and the administrative buildings (on the northern side of the enclosure) and the monastery's Museum, where the "Queen Mary" workshop used to be (in the building on the south side). The monastic precinct is surrounded by the monastery village, made up of rural traditional houses, where the nuns live, and which lie along narrow alleys.
The assembly of Văratec Monastery was included on the historical monuments list from Neamț county in 2004, with the classification code NT-II-a-B-10732 and it consists of 5 objectives: The Main Church, "The Dormition of the Virgin Mary" - dating from the beginning of the 19th century, with the code NT-II-m-A-10732.01 The Gate Bell Tower - dating from the 19th century, with the code NT-II-m-A-10732.02 The "Saint John the Baptist" church - dating from 1844, with improvements around 1880, with the code NT-II-m-A-10732.03 The "Transfiguration" church - dating from 1847, with the code NT-II-m-A-10732.04 The cells - dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, with the code NT-II-m-A-10732.05
Monastery history
Founding
The founding of the Văratec Monastery is connected with the name of Bălașa Herescu (1757-1842), Father Mihail's daughter, from the Saint Nicolae Domnesc Church in Iași. She lived as rassophore in the Toplița Skete nearby, by the name Sister Olimpiada. She had received some lands from the treasurer Deleanu and from the forester Ion Bălănoiu.
Mother Olimpiada was advised by Father Paisius Velichkovsky, hegumen at Neamț Monastery, who wanted to dissolve the small women's sketes situated near cities and villages to concentrate the nuns in a few larger monasteries isolated from the world. To that end, between 1781-1785 Mother Olimpiada established a small hermitage in a clearing in Văratec. In June 1785, Olimpiada, together with her confessor Father Iosif, began building a wooden church with the title "The Dormition of Virgin Mary". Near the church they built cells, in which many nuns came to live, thus founding Văratec Skete.
Together with Mother Olimpiada, Father Iosif is also considered a founder of the monastery. He was born around 1750, in the village Valea Jidanului in Transylvania, and entered the monastic life at an early age, becoming a novice of the renowned monk Father Paisius Velichkovsky, while the latter still resided at Dragomirna Monastery. Father Iosif died on 28 December 1828, and is buried in the narthex of the main church of the Monastery, "The Dormition of the Virgin Mary." He was sanctified as a Saint in 2005, and he is celebrated on 16 August.
In 1787, the Văratec Skete was unified with Toplița Skete to form a larger and better organized monastic settlement. Toplița Skete, founded more than 250 years earlier, was based in the middle of the village of Topolița. Upon uniting these two sketes, the nuns moved from Topolița to Văratec. In the following year the nuns from Durău Skete also came, with their superior Mother Nazaria, who was appointed Superior Mother of Văratec Skete. Schema nun Nazaria led the monastery between 1788-1814, with the help of Father Iosif.
Monastery development
In 1803, Metropolitan Veniamin Costachi of Moldavia wanted to establish a seminary for priests at Socola Monastery in Iași, so he decided that the 50 nuns from Socola were to be moved to Agapia Monastery, which thus became a women's monastery. By the Metropolitan's decision, on 10 July 1803, signed by the boyars from the royal court, Văratec Skete was then for a short while united with Agapia Monastery.