The Old Agapia Hermitage

The recorded tradition in some old manuscripts says that a certain hermit, Agapie, together with several disciples, withdrew from the Neamţ Monastery for a life of austerity and contemplation and built, in the second half of the 14th century, a modest hermitage, from wood. The Hermitage and the Agapia Monastery, the surrounding mountains, the stream, the village and the commune, which were properties of the monastery, took their names from this hermit. 

The first documentary mention is made by Ilies Vodă, in 1437, by which the boundary between Agapiei Monastery and Neamţ Monastery, with which it adjoins, is established.

A document from July 12, 1464, mentions Hieromonk Arsenie, the abbot of Agapia, in a dispute with the Neamț Citadel for a house with an orchard in Târgul Neamț.

Another document, from 1498, mentions Isaia, the abbot of Agapia, who had a quarrel with the Neamţ Citadel over a border mountain.

Agapia is on the list of monasteries during the reign of Stephen the Great, when it had 15-20 monks. These are proofs that Agapia existed throughout the 15th century.

Photo credit: Oana Nechifor (via Doxologia.ro)