Greece- Meteora

                                         

More Greece, anyone? 

We continued on down the road, driving a few more hours to Meteora, the site of monasteries built on the tops of mountain pillars. Greek Orthodox monks started building these monasteries in the 1100's, and most were completed by the 1500's. I was so excited to visit this place because I couldn't get over how fascinating the whole concept was. The rock formations alone would be enough to draw you to this place, which are thought to be over 6 million years old, formed by eons of erosion. Then you add a bunch of monasteries, constructed in medieval times, clinging impossibly to the tops of these peaks. It proved to be just as cool as I thought it would be. 

      

In this picture, Seth and I are admiring our amazing view from our hotel balcony. Way on top of one of those rocks was the St. Stephen's monastery or Agios Stephanos, the first one we visited. 

Historically, these monasteries would have been pretty challenging to visit. The only way in and out was either an 80 ft ladder or a net on a rope that was hoisted from a big winch inside the monastery. The whole point for the monks was to achieve solitude and safety. They had originally fled into these hills to escape religious persecution, so being hard to access was all part of the appeal. 

For the rest of the blog, I occasionally used some photos from the internet that did a better job of showing the monasteries in their unique positions. If it looks like we didn't take the pictures ourselves, you are probably right. 

Here is a 'bird's-eye' view of the St. Stephen's monastery, which became a convent for nuns in the 1960's. Pretty recent history if you consider the fact the foundations date back to the end of the 12th Century. 

This picture was taken as we entered the monastery. Although the pictures will never do the place justice, try to picture us walking across a deep chasm on a concrete bridge to enter the place. Historically, this wouldn't have been here. You would have likely been brought up in a rope net on a winch off the side of a cliff. 

Here was one of the historic winches used to bring people and goods up and down

All of the monasteries had a common theme. You entered the katholikon (church) via the narthex, which was full of beautiful Byzantine art, depicting the lives and deeds of the various saints. Then you would continue to the nave which is in the shape of a Greek cross. Jesus was depicted on the ceiling, right in the centre. If the monastery had collected relics, they were usually housed here. 

Seth and I posing with a much more famous mother and baby 

One of the excellent parts of these monasteries was the view we enjoyed from all of them. From St Stephen's, you could see over the entire Kalabaka town, where we were staying. 

The nuns had also built some very beautiful and tranquil gardens, here on the top of the world. This one was full of lavender. 

After exiting the monastery, there was still enough daylight to venture out on the rocks for some amazing viewpoints and pictures.

 

The next morning, we headed back into the hills to see everything we had only got a taste of the day before. Our first monastery was Varlaam, which involved a bit of a climb up some stairs. Luckily I had Jared for packing around little Seth. At the top, we were rewarded with a fantastic view from a big open courtyard. There were also a bunch of exhibits down in the basement, and I learned that there used to be 26 monasteries up in these hills. Now there are only 6. 

It was a day completely full of beautiful views 

This was our lunch spot. Our food attracted a bunch of stray kitties, which provided ample entertainment for Seth.  

Here we are with the Holy Trinity or Agias Trias Monastery in the background. If you are a fan of old-school James Bond, it was featured in For Your Eyes Only. 

It was my favourite monastery. It had the longest climb, but I kept reminding myself that these places are still 100X more accessible than they used to be. I was also spoiled because Jared carried Seth everywhere. 

Here they are, almost at the top! 

This place was so tranquil and calm at the top, and the Byzantine art was some of the oldest we saw. It was hard to leave this place, because it was like nowhere I had ever been before. I will always remember the combination of stunning rock formations and beautiful monasteries. However, we had flights booked to Santorini in a few days, so it was time to start heading back for Athens. 

This was a familiar scene on the many hopper flights we took, jumping from Greek mainland to Santorni, and then onwards to Italy. Seth slept really well on pretty much all of the flights. 

Next blog will be Santorni. Until Next Time!