Monastries in the Air : The Meteora, Greece

We didn't even know of the exsistance of the Meteora, until we stumbled upon it in the early hours of the 23 Nov 2008, while on the road from Igoumeni to Volos, via the Katara Mountains, having failed to secure Libyan visas and making a quick change in our route to get to Egypt via Greece, Turkey, Syria and Jordan.

The Metéora is a UNESCO Heritage Site and is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos.The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece, near the town of Kalambaka.

In the 9th century, an ascetic group of hermit monks moved up to the ancient pinnacles.
They were the first people to inhabit Metéora. They lived in hollows and fissures in the rock towers, some of which reach 550m above the plain. This great height, combined with the sheerness of the cliff walls, kept away all but the most determined visitors. Initially the hermits led a life of solitude, meeting only on Sundays and special days to worship and pray in a chapel built at the foot of a rock known as Dhoupiani. As early as the 11th century AD hermit monks were believed to be living among the caves and cutouts in the rocks

Monasteries on The Meteora,
Kalambaka, Greece
23 Nov 2008

Our first sight of the Meteora - what on earth is that?
Kalambaka, Greece
23 Nov 2008