Vărzărești Monastery is a place of worship, located on the outskirts of Palanca village, Urechești commune, Vrancea county. The Holy Place is surrounded by an oak forest. It is one of the first Orthodox monasteries to be declared a historic monument.
In order to reach the Vărzărești Monastery, in addition to the will, you also need a means of transport, on which you can rely on a difficult road to travel. When you reach, on the road, near Urechești commune, you will see a big sign that tells you, showing you with an arrow, the direction in which you have to go to get to the Monastery. I parked the car in the shade of a tree and looked around curiously. In front of us, at the end of a cobbled alley, we saw the bell tower of the monastery. Both to the left and to the right of it are the cells and other monastic annexes.
The monastery is located in a meadow, surrounded by an oak forest, under the location called Magura.
The monastery is 15 km from Focșani and 25 km from Râmnicu Sărat. From the village of Palanca to the monastery we walked on a paved road, difficult to walk, but worth it. By the way, the authorities should invest more in this road. After we parked the car in the shade, our eyes were curious to see the places around us. I mention that I was here many years ago, but it was an abandoned place, at that time only a monk lived. Since 2006, the place of worship has been transformed into a nunnery.
We stepped on the small grass and headed to the The Church dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, dating from 1644 .I could not help noticing that the church is declared a historical monument. Since we arrived here during the Sunday service, we went in and witnessed the last part of it. At the entrance to the place of worship, a place is arranged for the purchase of souvenirs.
Unfortunately, the place of worship is in an advanced state of degradation. Also here is an old wooden cross (undated). Inside, the existing paintings are largely degraded, as during the communist period the place of worship suffered numerous damages. The exterior walls are painted white, without paintings, and the roof is made of tin, with a single tower.
Near the church dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary there is another smaller church dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr George, dating from 1898, it has also been declared a Historic Monument. As we have seen, the church is under renovation. This church was built at the end of the 19th century, the consecration service being officiated in 1900, on the feast day.
The courtyard of the monastery is beautifully arranged; here is located a small functional artesian well, a true guardian among the many layers of flowers. A wooden crucifix was erected near the bell tower in 2008, according to the inscription at its base.
Here lived Saint Theodora of Sihla, in the first years of monasticism. A stone cave was dug in her memory and turned into a chapel. As a small parenthesis: I had the opportunity to see the Sihla Monastery in Neamț, but also the cave where the Saint spent the last years of her life.
From my investigations I found out that initially the monastery was calle
d Urechești, taking the name of the nearby village. It was only in the 18th century that it received its current name, Vărzărești. The name comes from its founder, Radu Varzaru, the gunman of Mr. Matei Basarab. The monastery was built as a sign of reconciliation between the lord of Wallachia, Matei Basarab and the lord of Moldavia, Vasile Lupu. The agreement was for each to build a monastery in each other's country. Radu Vărzaru laid the foundations of the place of worship in 1644, his name being later taken over by the newly established hermitage.
In addition to the two churches declared "historical monuments", the Vărzărești Monastery has an interesting underground chapel, a place where Saint Theodora of Sihla prayed for a period around 1700. It embraced the monastic life at the Vărzărești Hermitage, but the Turks stormed through these lands and set fire to the place of worship. The pious Teodora retired to the mountains and then settled near the Sihla Hermitage in the Neamț area.
The chapel of Saint Pious Theodora from Sihla from the Vărzărești Monastery is arranged on the place of a small cave, the access to this place being made on a staircase with steps dug in the ground, a staircase that starts from the monastery courtyard, on the right side of the crucifix from wood.
The chapel-cave is in the shape of a cross, multicolored rugs are placed on the floor, and the walls and ceiling are covered in laminated OSB boards.
During the communist period the place of worship was abolished in 1959 and passed into the ownership of the C.A.P. Listen. and suffered serious damage, and after 1990 was reorganized as a hermitage of monks. Since 2006, the place of worship has been transformed into a nunnery, being thus organized even today.
It is a place full of history worth visiting.
If you want to make a virtual visit you can do it by accessing the video below.
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