Awe Inspiring Meteora!

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I absolutely forbid you to travel to Greece and not visit Meteora! It’s an incredible, magical place that you will love. I doubt there’s anything like it on the planet. It’s difficult to describe with words so I’ll have lots of pictures with this post.

Over 1,000 years ago, hermit monks lived in caves and fissures in the area. The in 1344, Athanasios Koinovitis founded the Meteoran Monastery. Over the next couple of hundred years, 24 monasteries were built. They were for monks and nuns of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Today, 6 of them are preserved and still functioning.

They are open to the public, but a dress code is in place and they do not want you to take pictures inside the monasteries. Originally, the only way to get to them was by ladders or to be drawn up in a net with ropes. In the 1920s, steps were built to them.

The Saint Stephen Monastery is the only one without steps and the one we went to as we had limited time and it was the only one Martha could get into. When we got there, it was around 9:00, but a lot of people were already there. We found a couple of handicapped spots near the bridge to the monastery, but it had a traffic cone in front of it. A guy came over and told me I could drive up to the front of the building and drop Martha off. Then he came right back and said, “Just park down there, there’s room.”

The drive to the monasteries from Kastraki or Kalabaka is short and very scenic. It’s a nicely paved road with short stone walls with breaks in between. Couple that with beautiful and unique scenery and it makes for a very pleasant drive. There are numerous pullouts for pictures and Martha insisted that we use most of them.

The weather was comfortable even if it was a little cloudy that morning. It would be a beautiful place to spend a few days and do some hiking. I thought the beauty of the place was mostly on the outside, considering how unique and awe-inspiring it was.

But, then we went inside the Saint Stephen Monastery. When you first entered, you immediately got the feeling of being in an old European village with the stone walls and the courtyard and flowers blooming inside. They had little gardens within the walls porches and several small buildings as well as the main cathedral.

Also, the views from that high were incredible. You could see for miles over the typical Greek architecture and natural landscaping. It was for me, one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. We were only there for about half a day. The next time I visit, I think I want to plan on at least two days there.