Meteora: Castles in the Sky

I’ve always noticed that Greeks go for drama when it comes to deciding where to build things. If it is steep, high, remote, and challenging to get to, that is where they will build their roads and most sacred sites. In Meteora, a complex of mountain-perched monasteries in central Greece, this penchant for the impossible reaches its pinnacle. Prepare to be dazzled at the sight of these castles and communities in the sky. Gloriously illogical, irresistibly magical. Who were the architects of this wonder? What motivated them to build not just one, but 24 monasteries in spears of rock too high for the layman to

climb? When? How have their masterpieces managed to survive to the point where they are now Unesco enshrined? In between three days of exploring the site in the warm autumn heat of late October, along trails that climbed from one promontory to the next, we cobble together a picture of the history and hardship that mounted these celestial exhibitions.

From Caves to Castles

It is 1344. The hermit monks who have been living in the caves and fissures of Meteora’s rock formations since the ninth century are now feeling the heat from increasing number

of Turkish attacks on Greece. Knowing that the rock pillars of Meteora will be the ideal refuge, they begin to erect the first monastery ‘on the rocks’, and then, with a growing community of ascetics fleeing from Mt. Athos-by-the-sea, major expansion of the monastic site develops. The work is painstakingly slow, relying on baskets to haul materials up hillsides to the highest and least accessible forest of columns in this region. Not being able to

comprehend how a team of clerics can move tons of stone in this manner, the nearby townsfolk were certain that their leader, Athanasios Koinovitis, had tamed a tremendous heaven-sent eagle to help them in this task. By the end of the 15^th century, there were 24 monasteries aloft in Meteora.

Apex of Meteora

At the height, during the 16^th century, Meteora (meaning ‘ suspended in the sky’) was the second

largest Eastern Orthodox monastic community after Mt. Athos. Gifts from emperors and princes and wealthy patrons allowed the monks to continually expand their facilities – refining their refectories, stocking their libraries with rare and valuable documents, revamping their defensive towers, adding hospices and houses for the elderly.

Recent History of Meteora

While the monasteries thrived between the 16^th and 19^th centuries, occupation by guerilla fighters during Greece’s War of Independence, and later, bombardment and looting during World War II took its toll. A revival in the late 20^th century (perhaps prompted by featuring

in the James Bond move “For Your Eyes Only” in 1981), and realization that it truly was a holy land, worthy of preservation and worldwide attention, was assisted by a number of patrons and organizations. In 1988, it was established as a Unesco World Heritage Site, and quickly assumed status as a must-see tourist site and pilgrimage destination.

Geological Wonder

While one’s expectations are always spiked by knowing a site has

made the UNESCO list, there is nothing about Meteora that doesn’t enthrall. In our visit, we chose to explore the site on foot from the closest town – Kalambaka – as sourcing the trails of the monks and the secret passages from monastery to monastery intrigued us. The first thing that strikes you in Meteora is, of course, its other-wordly terrain. From the plains of Thessaly, a wall of stone arises, swept into

swirls and columns and treetopped peaks of sculpted sandstone. A product of 60 million years of geological shifts and tumultuous climate events, the region’s morass of sandstone and limestone is churned up and left, upon recession of the surrounding lakes and rivers, protruding from the rising seabed.

Paths to Meteora

The paths up are through dense forests of elm and oak, yielding to drier hills of Aleppo pines as one nears the high inner plateau between the columns. Through the trees, views of buildings atop towering outcrops appear, and you marvel at the audacity of walls that blend seamlessly with their rock ramparts. We reach the entrances of the monasteries and are disappointed to find out

they will not be individually loading us in baskets to be hoisted up the 1500 feet cliffs to the monastery doors. Instead, we join the lines of the faithful to scale the staircases and pathways now carved in the rockfaces that had once prohibited access to the monasteries.

Meteora Today

All open sites -Monastery of the Great Meteoron, Varlaam, Rousanou, St. Nicholas Anapausas, St. Stephen and Holy Trinity – are exquisitely renovated

and maintained. An aura of solemnity greets you as you enter; skirts are supplied for the women, and apart from the odd gift shop, there is nothing for sale here but the deep pleasure of imagining seven centuries of monastic life and devotion. The libraries remain proud repositories of rare academic Byzantine manucripts, including many editions of the Bible, hymnography, hagiography, and other scholarly documents that the monks had

transcribed. Other aspects of their work – gold embroidery and weaving, painting and viticulture – is on display. Today, you will catch glimpses of the few monks or nuns that remain (37 at last count) – washing windows, tending the gardens, giftshops, or the refreshing of frescoes in the chapels – tolerating our intrusion, knowing the millions earned each year via the gate maintains the privilege of living and studying on such hallowed grounds.

Bravo, Greece!

Three days of acquainting ourselves with the strength of the Eastern Orthodox belief and extraordinary accomplishments of this band of clerics was humbling. That, coupled with the graciousness of the Greeks in all those supporting places – the hotels, restaurants, train stations, cappuccino stands, and Vodaphone shops, made for another bellissimo immersion in Greek culture and history. A five star experience we are happy to recommend!