The towers of Meteora rise from the Thessaly plain like the pillars of a lost cathedral, yet their origin is sedimentary, not divine. Each pillar is conglomerate: rounded river pebbles and cobbles locked into a sandstone and marl matrix, deposited tens of millions of years ago where an ancient river spilled into a lake or … Read more
Kastraki sits directly at the foot of the Meteora rock pillars, a traditional stone village of narrow lanes and red-tiled roofs that seems to grow out of the conglomerate towers rising above it. Roughly 2 kilometres northwest of Kalabaka, in the Thessalian plain of central Greece, it is the closest inhabited settlement to the sandstone … Read more
Kalabaka is the town that sits directly beneath the towering sandstone pillars of Meteora, in the Thessaly plain of central Greece. Sometimes written Kalampaka, it spreads across the flat ground where the plain meets the rock, so the monasteries rise roughly 1 to 2 kilometres above the last streets. The town is the natural base … Read more
St Stephen Monastery crowns the southern edge of the Meteora rocks, directly above the town of Kalabaka in central Greece. Agios Stefanos holds a clear distinction among the six active monasteries: a short, flat bridge carries visitors straight onto the rock. Older travellers and people with limited mobility reach the gate without the steep stone … Read more
Holy Trinity Monastery stands alone on one of the tallest, most isolated rock pinnacles at Meteora. Locals call it Agia Triada. The pillar rises sheer above the town of Kalabaka on the plain of Thessaly in central Greece. This monastery earns its fame twice over: for its dizzying, almost impossible setting, and for a starring … Read more
Rousanou Monastery ranks among the most photographed sights of the Meteora rock cluster. It stands on a lower, rounded pillar in the heart of the formation, wrapped so closely by the stone that walls and rock seem to merge. Small footbridges carry visitors across the narrow gap from the neighbouring rock, making the climb gentler … Read more
Varlaam Monastery sits on one of the tallest rock pillars in the Meteora region of Thessaly, in central Greece near Kalabaka. The monastery is dedicated to All Saints and ranks as the second largest of the six active Meteora houses. It stands directly next to the Great Meteoron, sharing a dramatic clifftop skyline. Carved steps … Read more
Great Meteoron crowns the Broad Rock above Kalabaka, the tallest and largest of the six working monasteries that give Meteora its fame. The full name is the Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ, and locals call it Megalo Meteoro. Its stone buildings rise near six hundred metres, reached by a long flight of carved … Read more
Meteora crowns central Greece with six active Eastern Orthodox monasteries perched on giant sandstone-conglomerate pillars. The rocks rise sheer above the town of Kalabaka and the village of Kastraki in Thessaly. Monks settled these summits from the fourteenth century, turning inaccessible caves and crags into places of prayer. The complex earned UNESCO World Heritage status … Read more