Meteora in Central Greece

Meteora Central Greece Thessaly:

Lofty and Uplifting Eyrie Monasteries perched on natural sandstone rocks,included on the UNESCO world heritage list.  Meteora means Suspended Rocks or Suspended in the air.

Meteor and Meteorite are words of Greek origins so it is  easy for you to  excuse the name of the place.

Huge Rocky Pinnacles

Away from the Material World

Greek Historian Herodotus wrote in the 5th century BC that the plain of Thessaly had been a pre-historic sea and  geologists say that the pinnacles were formed about 60 millions years ago and weathering and earthquakes  shaped them.Moreover,at the cave of Theopetra  at the  foot of the cliffs where excavations took place,they found petrified diatoms that helped them out to better understand the Paleo-climate and the climate changes.

The sandstone peaks were first inhabited by Byzantine hermits in the 9th century who lived an ascetic life in hollows of the rock towers some 180 ft above the plain and away from the Material world .However,in the 14th and 15th centuries six monasteries were built,the ones that we visit nowadays :  Agia Triada,Agios Nikolaos,Agios Stefanos,the Great Meteoro,Roussanou and Varlaam.

Access to the monasteries was originally reached by using  rope ladders and large nets to haul up goods and people and for inter commuting. A means of transport all weathers and no traffic congestion whatsoever …

Inter Commuting

Breathtaking Means of Transport

You reach out to Heaven for your peace of  mind and of course you enjoy stunning views and dramatic landscapes over the settings near the Pindus mountains and the Pinios river.

quiet and elevating atmosphere

You relive History and Culture

 You relive history and culture through the wall paintings,the priceless artifacts and the rare manuscripts.

Of course in 1920 steps were cut into the rocks making the monasteries accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau where you reach by car and you only do some step-climbing.

Trying to touch the skies ...

History and Culture through high rocks and natural sculptures

You Only Live Twice ...

You Only Live Twice ...

 A great  destination ” high up” which was and still is  the source of  inspiration for many literature, and music works as well as a filming  location such as  in the ( via wiki):

• The monastery of Holy Trinity was a filming location in the 1981 James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only
• Scenes from Tintin and the Golden Fleece were also shot at the Meteora monasteries.
• The rock area was a primary inspiration behind the Linkin Park album of the same name.
• Francesco’s Mediterranean Voyage is a BBC Television documentary series first aired in 2008
• Michina, the main setting of the movie Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life is based on Meteora.
• Meteora is the main location in the fiction book The Spook’s Sacrifice, by Lancashire author Joseph Delaney
• In the post-apocalyptic horror novel World War Z, the monasteries’ natural protection is restored to protect survivors from growing zombie hordes

Related articles

• Meteora – ‘Suspended in the air’ (antiworldnews.wordpress.com)