Meteora


The next morning we headed out to see the monasteries of Meteora. On the way, we stopped at a local factory where icons are made. We got a brief demonstration of the process, then had rather a long time to shop.

Meteora (which means "suspended in air") is a UNESCO World Heritage Site[*]. It is an area of rock pillars. The geography is amazing enough in itself, but even more impressive are the monasteries built on top of these pillars.

These monasteries were built in the 1400s. Originally there were as many as 24 of them, but there are now only 6 which are still in use and open to visit. The others are in ruins. We toured two of them (the last two on this page).

The monasteries were built on top of the pillars, making them quite inaccessible. Now they can be reached by as many as 200 stairs, but those are a recent addition. In the early days, visitors used ladders or were winched up in baskets. (When were the ropes replaced? When they broke.)

St. Stephen's Monastery

This is the first monastery we visited. We didn't go in for a tour, but stopped to look at it and to get a good view over the valley.

It is the only one of these monasteries that you can actually drive to. It is also one of the two inhabited by nuns rather than monks.

Holy Trinity Monastery



 
This monastery appeared in the James Bond movie "For Your Eyes Only".

In the lower picture, you can see a cable car crossing on a cable. This is how they bring supplies to the monastery.

Varlaam Monastery

Varlaam is the second largest monastery (second only to the Grand Meteoron, where I was standing when I took this picture). You can see the Roussanou monastery in the background.

(and from below, with the Grand Meteoron in the background)

St. Nicholas Monastery

This is the most remote of the monasteries.

Before continuing on to see the monasteries we actually toured, here are some views of the landscape of Meteora.

Grand Meteoran Monastery

The Grand Meteoron is the largest of the monasteries of Meteora.

the church within the monastery
 I don't know what this was all about!

We had to climb about 350 stair steps to reach this monastery (160 down into a gully and then 190 up the other side).

Roussanou Monastery

The Roussanou monastery (also known as St. Barbara) is the second of the monasteries inhabited by nuns. We again climbed more than 200 steps to reach it, though they were more even and on a better path than those leading to the Grand Meteoron. The church has some beautiful iconography inside, but no pictures were allowed. The nuns had a small table set up where they would paint your name on a rock, as a simple fund-raiser. It has a very cozy, homey feel.



Lunch in Kalambaka

Before heading home, we had lunch at this very interesting restaurant. The way you choose your food is: you walk through the kitchen, look in the pots, and tell them what you want. They fill your plate and hand it to you, then you go out into the dining room to eat. While you are eating, someone comes around and gives you a check, based on what your chose. It has been in the same family for decades and the food is wonderful!