What Is The Meteora?
The Meteora is a rock formation in central Greece hosting one of the largest and most steeply built complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries.
Six, of an original twenty-four, monasteries are built on natural pillars and hill-like rounded boulders that dominate the local area in Thessaly, Greece. The monasteries are located north of the small town of Kalambáka, south of the village of Kastraki, and east of the Pindus (PÃndos) Mountains in the valley of the Pineiós River.
Rising high above the plain, the sandstone megaliths on which the monasteries were built average 1,000 feet (300 metres) in height, with some reaching 1,800 feet (550 metres). The rock masses were formed some 60 million years ago, their distinctive and varied shapes sculpted over time by wind, rain, and earthquakes.
Meteora is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988.
History
Meteora are not mentioned in classical Greek myths nor in Ancient Greek literature. The first people recorded to live in Meteora after the Neolithic Era were an ascetic group of hermit monks who, in the ninth century AD, moved up to the ancient pinnacles. They lived in hollows and fissures in the rock towers. The height and cliff walls kept most visitors away. The monks only met on Sundays and special days to worship and pray in a chapel that was built at the foot of a rock known as Dhoupiani.
Monks already occupied the caverns of Meteora as early as the eleventh century, but monasteries were only built in the fourteenth century. Access to the top was only via removable ladders or windlass.
In 1344, Athanasios Koinovitis brought a group of followers to Meteora and founded the great Meteoron monastery on the Broad Rock. Being threatened by Turkish raiders at the end of the fourteenth century, the monks found Meteora to be the ideal refuge.
The monastery of Varlaam was built in 1517 by Theophanes, which was reputed to house the finger of St. John and the shoulder blade of St. Andrew.
During the sixteenth century there were 24 monasteries at Meteora. They were created to serve monks and nuns following the teachings of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Today only six are still functioning, with the remainder in total ruin.
Up to the seventeenth century, the only way of getting goods and people up to the monks was by baskets and ropes. In the 1920s steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau.
Of the six monasteries, only the Holy Monastery of St. Stephen, and the Holy Monastery of Roussanou are occupied by nuns while the others are inhabited by monks. Today the monasteries are tourist attractions.
Archaeological Remains
The Monastery of Great Meteoron is the largest of the monasteries at Meteora. It was constructed in the mid-fourteenth century and was the subject of restoration and embellishment projects in 1483 and 1552. The main church or Katholikon, that honours the Transfiguration of Jesus was built in the middle of 14th century and 1387/88 and decorated in 1483 and 1552. One building serves as the main museum for tourists.
The Monastery of Varlaam is the second largest monastery in the Meteora. It was built in 1541 and embellished in 1548. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is built in the Athonite type (cross-in-square with dome and choirs), with spacious exonarthex (lite) surrounded by a dome. It was built in 1541-42 and decorated in 1548. The exonarthex was decorated in 1566. Today the old refectory is used as a museum while north of the church is the parekklesion of the Three Bishops, built in 1627 and decorated in 1637.
The Monastery of Rousanou was founded in the middle of the sixteenth century and decorated in 1560. It is dedicated to The Transfiguration but honoured to Saint Barbara. Both, the Katholikon and the reception halls are in the ground floor while the archontariki, cells and subsidiary rooms are scattered in the basement and the first floor.
The Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapausas was built in the sixteenth century. It is the first monastery from Kastraki to Meteora. The Katholikon dedicated to St. Nicholas, is a single-nave church with small dome, built in the beginning of 16th c. It was decorated by the Cretan painter Theophanis Strelitzas in 1527.
The Monastery of St. Stephen is one of the easier reachable monasteries and rests on the plain rather than on a cliff. It has a small-nave church that was built in the middle of the 16th century and decorated in around 1545. The Katholikon, which honours St. Charalambos, was built in the Athonite type, in 1798. The monastery was given over to nuns in 1961. The old refectory of the convent is today used as a museum.
The Monastery of the Holy Trinity is on top of the cliffs and difficult to reach. It was built in 1475 and decorated in 1741. The church is a cross-in-square type with the dome based in two columns. The spacious barrel-vaulted exonarthex was founded in 1689 and decorated in 1692. A small skeuophylakeion was added next to the church in 1684.
Interest for Today
From the early Christian times, the steep cliffs of Meteora were regarded as a perfect place to achieve absolute isolation. A place for people to find peace and harmony. A visit to Meteora Monasteries offers a unique perspective of nature’s grandeur in conjunction with history, architecture, and man’s everlasting desire to connect with the Divine.
Location
The Meteora is in Thessaly, Greece, at the coordinates 39°42′51″N 21°37′52″E
Address: Meteora, Kalambaka, Thessaly, Greece, Τ.Κ. 42200, Kalampaka (Prefecture of Trikala)
Tourist Information
The visiting hours of the monasteries vary.
Telephone numbers for information on the monasteries are:
- +30 24320 22649,
- +30 24320 22277,
- +30 24320 22220.
