Meteora (Greek for "floating in the air") are rocks in the mountains of Thessaly in northern Greece, consisting of a mixture of sandstone and detrital rock and reaching a height of 600 m above sea level. In 1988, the monasteries located on the cliff top were included in the list of World Heritage Sites.
A very unusual place.
1. In total, throughout history, according to various sources, there were 22 or 24 monasteries along with many single cells, askitiria, chapels, hermitages, caves, seals, pillars, scattered throughout the meteor mountains. Some of the monasteries have survived as ruins.
2. A winding stone staircase to one of the monasteries of Meteora.
3. Monastery of Varlaam - one of the active monasteries of Meteora. It is believed that the monastery got its name from the monk Varlaam, the first settler who climbed the rock, in the first half of the 14th century and built a small temple dedicated to the Three Hierarchs.
Promotional video:
4. The Monastery of Metamorphosis keeps the skulls of deceased monks.
5. Views of the monastery of St. Nicholas Anapavsas and the monastery of Rusanu or St. Barbara.
Monastery Rusanu, or St. Barbara, is one of the six Meteora monasteries that have survived to this day. This monastic complex, like the Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapavsas, is located on a particularly limited area, therefore, from a distance, a representation of only one building is created and only the dome of the temple is seen. The origin of the name of the Rusan monastery is not known for certain, and to visit the monastery of St. Nicholas Anapavsas, you must first climb the hill along 143 steps to the foot of the temple rock, and then along 85 steps carved into the rock.
6. Cable car to one of the monasteries. For the strong in spirit.
7. Rusanu Monastery was plundered several times. During the Turkish persecution of 1797 and the Greco-Turkish war of 1897, residents of the surrounding villages took refuge within the walls of the monastery. At first, they climbed here on rope ladders. In 1897, the rope ladders to the monastery were replaced with two wooden bridges, and in 1930 these bridges were replaced with modern approaches.
8. The local rocks were formed more than 60 million years ago and were the rocky bottom of the prehistoric sea, located on the site of the plain.
9. Night view of the monastery of St. Nicholas Anapavsas.
10. Rusanu Monastery towers over a mist-filled valley.
11. Garden-vegetable garden on the rock near the monastery of St. Stephen. It is the richest of the Meteor monasteries. It is located on a huge cliff overlooking the city of Kalambaka. The entrance to the monastery is the most accessible and is via the only pedestrian bridge 8 meters long.
12. Many frescoes have survived in the Cathedral of the Rusanu Monastery, among them an inscription on the western wall of the main church. The wall frescoes of the Cathedral of Saint Barbara are one of the best examples of the flourishing of the "Cretan School". Combined with the paintings of other Meteor monasteries, they marked a new stage in the development of religious painting in Greece in the 16th century.
Dormition of the Mother of God and the inscription about the establishment of the Cathedral.
13. Carpentry workshop in the Preobrazhensky Monastery (Great Meteor).
14. Rusanu Monastery and unique views of the rocks.
15. Paths, terraces, bridges and rocks - landscapes of Meteora.
16. Below you can see Kalambaka - a small town in mainland Greece on the western outskirts of the Thessalian Valley, close to the rocks of the magnificent Meteor.
17. The population of the town is 8,330 inhabitants according to the 2011 census.
18. Small monastery of Ipapanti, originally built in a cave on a rock in the 14th century.
19. Monastery of Varlaam is the second largest monastery in Meteora.
20. Local cable car.
21. Monastery of the Holy Trinity - a male Orthodox monastery on one of the rocks. There is no reliable evidence of the date of foundation of the monastery. One of the unconfirmed translations testifies that the monastery was founded by the monk Dometius in 1438.
Now the monastery complex consists of a chapel, a balcony castle, an altar, monastic cells covered with low vaults. A real decoration is the Cathedral dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Behind the cathedral there is a balcony with a picturesque panorama of the Monastery of St. Stephen, the Rusanu Monastery, the Monastery of St. Varlaam and Megal Meteoru, as well as two rocks - Alice and St. Modest.
22. Autumn in the most beautiful places in Greece.
23. The rising sun illuminates the Holy Trinity Monastery. One of the six Meteora monasteries that have survived to this day. And one of the oldest.