Varatec Monastery

The Varatec Monastery is an Orthodox nunnery in Romania. It is located 12 kilometres from Targu Neamt and 40 kilometres from Piatra-Neamt, in a forest at the bottom of the mountains, in the village of Varatec. With nearly 400 nuns living there, it is the largest nunnery in Romania.

Massive stone walls enclose a space that once housed the "Regina Maria" Workshop, the Church of the Assumption of Mary (the main church), the cathedral, and administrative buildings (in the buildings on the north side of the enclosure), as well as the Monastery Museum. The monastery village, which is made up of traditional peasant homes where the nuns live and are placed in little roadways, surrounds the monastic enclosure. The wooden church became crowded as the number of monks increased. Therefore, the building on a stone church began in 1808. It was finished and christened in 1812. In 1841, the place of church was painted.

The hermitage was attacked and destroyed by the Ottomans during the Revolution of 1821; the nuns were expelled or killed, and the belongings were stolen.

In 1839, Varatec Monastery separated out of Agapia Monastery to become an independent monastery. 

On June 11, 1900, the monastery was put through a severe test. Large portions of the monastery were destroyed by fire; in addition to the cathedral losing its roof and spires, the bell tower also collapsed. The chapels were completely destroyed. All of these were quickly restored and are still accessible in the monastery today.