Văratec Monastery

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.