Meteora - Mountain Top Monasteries

We took a four hour bus ride from Athens to Meteora to visit monasteries on the mountain tops and this was one of the most spectacular places we've ever seen. Look closely and you can see the faint structures both on right and left spire tops and one in the middle.

Meteora is a small town at the bottom of the valley where we stopped and had lunch at a local restaurant prepared to serve large groups of people. Then up the windy mountain road we went. We visited three different monasteries that still house nuns and monks. It was a very long day but so worth it.

Here's some history - in the 9th to 11th centuries, hermit monks first lived in the the natural rock caves and hollows. In 1150ish, the first small church was built at the base of the rocks. The first cliff-top monastery was started in 1356 and it took almost 20 years to finish. In the 14th to 16th centuries, monks built a total of 24 monasteries on the towering sandstone pillars to escape political unrest and attacks.

Today, one monastery had only one monk living there, but the rest had several nuns and/or monks. The nuns hosted several gift shops.

The first stop required we climb 650 steps up the mountain side. This was the most steps we had to climb, and were glad it was the first one.

This is the ceiling in one of the small chapels but the picture just doesn't do it justice.

Another monastary tucked into a mountain. See the handsome guy at the upper bannister?

This is a pulley system for getting supplies up to the living quarters without having to carry everything up the stairs.

We weren't the only ones who were drawn to the mountains. Look closely and you'll see three guys repelling down the montainside.