Văratec Monastery: Romania's largest convent

A convent founded by disciples of Paisius Velichkovsky

Văratec Monastery (Mănăstirea Văratec; spelled Văratic on its official website) is an active convent of the Romanian Orthodox Church in a glade at the foot of the mountains, in the village of Văratec, Agapia commune, about 12 km from the town of Târgu Neamț. It is regarded as the largest convent in Romania. Its history is closely linked to Neamț Monastery: on the advice of its abbot, St Paisius Velichkovsky, the nun Olimpiada (born Bălașa Herescu, 1757–1842) founded a small hermitage here in 1781–1785, and in June 1785, together with the confessor Iosif, a disciple of Paisius, she began building a wooden Church of the Dormition.

In 1787 the Topolița skete was joined to Văratec, nuns from other sketes later moved here, and by 1811 the monastery had 273 nuns. The stone Church of the Dormition was built in 1808–1812. In 1832 Safta Brâncoveanu (1778–1857), widow of the great ban of Craiova, came to live here and gave the monastery generous gifts; in 1839 Văratec became an independent monastery. The confessor Iosif, buried in the pronaos of the main church, was canonised by the Romanian Orthodox Church in 2008 as St Joseph of Văratec. The monastery is also linked with the poet Veronica Micle, the beloved of Mihai Eminescu: after the poet's death she settled at Văratec, died here in 1889 and is buried in the monastery cemetery.

Why go

Văratec is not so much a single church as a whole monastic small town: behind a stone wall stand churches, ranges of cells and a museum, and around them run streets of the nuns' white cottages with flower beds and orchards, with forested slopes beyond. It is very quiet and well kept, and this is the best place to see how a large convent lives. The monastery lies a few kilometres from Agapia, so both are easy to visit in one day.

What to see

• The Church of the Dormition (1808–1812) with two towers, a band of blind niches under the eaves, paintings of 1882 and an iconostasis of 1816.
• The tomb of St Joseph, co-founder of the monastery, in the pronaos of the main church.
• The bronze statue of Safta Brâncoveanu by the sculptor Ion Jalea (1935) by the altar apse.
• The monastery museum in the building of the former "Queen Marie" workshop (since 1960), including the Safta Brâncoveanu salon.
• The Church of the Nativity of St John the Baptist (1844) in the old cemetery and the Church of the Transfiguration (1847).
• The angel with a cross on the site of the altar of the first wooden church.
• The monastic village with the nuns' cottages and Veronica Micle's grave in the cemetery.

Practical information

Address: Sat Văratec, comuna Agapia, cod 617013, Neamț County. Phones: +40 233 244 616, +40 728 102 363, e-mail [email protected]. From Târgu Neamț it is about 12 km, from Piatra Neamț about 40 km, and from Agapia Monastery a few kilometres by a local road. From Ukraine: via the Porubne – Siret border crossing and Suceava, about 120 km from the border.

The monastery does not publish official visiting hours or prices on its website — check before you go. This is an active convent: modest clothing (shoulders and knees covered, a headscarf and skirt are advisable for women), silence, and do not enter the yards of the nuns' cottages without an invitation; ask permission before taking photos in the church. The patronal feast is the Dormition (15 August), and St Joseph is commemorated on 16 August. Allow about an hour and a half for the monastery and a walk through the monastic village.

Nearby

• Agapia Monastery with paintings by Nicolae Grigorescu.
• Sihla skete with St Theodora's cave.
• Neamț Citadel above Târgu Neamț.
• Neamț Monastery, where Paisius Velichkovsky was abbot.
• Bison safari in Vânători-Neamț.

Official website: varatic.mmb.ro

Photos: Svlad6403, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro, Wikimedia Commons; Sîmbotin, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro, Wikimedia Commons; Nicu Farcaș, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Sinziana, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro, Wikimedia Commons; Cezar Suceveanu, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Dragosz, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro, Wikimedia Commons.