*****Updated with pictures now*****
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| Ancient rock formations of Meteora |
Kalo Pascha! (Happy Easter!)
Meteora is in Central Greece and a UNESCO protected World Heritage site. I went there at Orthodox Easter 2009 and didn’t regret not going to an island instead.
You see, as the pictures will show, Meteora has pinnacles of rocks and caves, formed approximately 60 million years ago. From the 9th Century, hermit monks used to live in cave dugouts in these rocks.
Later, these beautiful monasteries’ were built – a total of 20 by the beginning of the 14th Century. Access to them was deliberately difficult (due to threats of invasion) and only via very long ladders and/or rope bridges.
Today only 6 monasteries stand:
The Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron – the largest of the 6
The Holy Monastery of Varlaam
The Holy Monastery of Rousanou
The Holy Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapausas
The Holy Monastery of St. Stephen – damaged by the Nazis in WWII and now taken over, rebuilt and inhabited by Nuns
The Monastery of the Holy Trinity – location for the 1981 filming of the James Bond “For Your Eyes Only”
Going into any monastery, if you are a woman you must keep your shoulders covered and also be wearing a skirt. Ironically, if you are wearing trousers or jeans, you must STILL wear one of the little wrap around skirts they give you upon entry – but if you come wearing a short, short skirt, that’s ok!
Anyway, who am I to question? I just know I had a lovely time there that Easter, stayed in a very reasonably priced place in Kalampaka, the place where Meteora is located (30 Euros a night so between 2 people, very good!) and the 3.5 hour train journey from Athens
I hope you’ll put Meteora down on your “To Do” list when you come to this country.
