Casamara - Meteora

Meteora

Casamara

John & Susan Simpson

Fri 11 Jul 2025 13:15

The approach to Meteora is through a wide expansive valley which was probably a huge body of water millions of years ago. It is incredibly flat and shimmers in the midday sun. The plain is a vast flat landscape stretching away as far as you can see into the distance and fringed by jagged mountainous peaks. Suddenly, you can see these towering rounded stone pillars in the centre of the valley where you’d expect to see flat land, and then you realise these giants are topped with buildings and that there’s no visible way of getting up there. It really is a spectacular sight. This is the ancient settlement of Meteora, built by monks a thousand years ago on the rock formations dating back 60 million years to when earth movements pushed the sea bed upwards creating a high plateau. Natural forces then eroded the sandy stone over millions of years to create the huge freestanding rock pillars. The landscape looks like it’s the stuff of legend and mythology but, surprisingly, the area isn’t mentioned in Ancient Greek myths at all. It has, however, featured as a backdrop to modern films such as ‘For Your Eyes Only’, ‘The Bourne Identity’ and ‘Game of Thrones’.

Meteora rock formation. Look closely at the cave on the far right to see wooden platforms where monks would have lived.

Meteora rocks with valley floor below

Monks began to occupy caves high up in the rocks from the early 1100s (recent history for Greece!) and monastic communities started to be formed soon after. Building monasteries so high up on these sheer faced rocks allowed the monks to control access to their sacred places and to feel closer to God due to their height relative to the surrounding area. The name Meteora is derived from Greek words meaning ‘suspended in air’. The sheer effort it must have taken to build these monasteries is beyond comprehension. When the monasteries were first constructed they were accessed by long ladders tied together and dangled down the side of the rocks, or by nets hauled up on long ropes. It must have been a terrifying journey either way, and required monumental effort to bring up anything heavy!

The hauling mechanism used in the Varlaam Monastery - very much like a ship’s capstan

Whilst there were 24 monasteries at one time, only 6 are functioning today: 5 monasteries and 1 convent. We visited three of them (Varlaam, Great Meteoron and St Stephen) and, thankfully, they were all accessible either by bridge or staircase. Whilst there were plenty of tourists about, only 17 monks live in Meteora now, and 50 nuns in the St Stephen convent.

Staircase up to the Grand Meteoron Monastery

Despite the crowds, we found the monasteries to be surprisingly tranquil places with beautifully planted gardens and terraces. We imagined how peaceful it must be up there when the gates are closed in the evenings and early mornings. It would definitely be a good place for quiet contemplation.