1. LOCATION
Meteora is located in Thessaly (Thessalía), Greece. The monasteries are located not far from the small town of Kalambáka, and the village of Kastraki.
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1. LOCATION
Meteora is located in Thessaly (Thessalía), Greece. The monasteries are located not far from the small town of Kalambáka, and the village of Kastraki.
2. MEANING OF METEORA
The name was derived from a Greek contraction meaning “suspended in the air.” Meteora gets its name from the monasteries that sit high atop the stone pillars.
3. HISTORY
Hermit monks first climbed these soaring rocks to settle in the caves and hollows of the rocks as early as the 9th century. During the time of the Turkish occupation, the Hermit monks climbed higher and higher up the rock face until they were living on the peaks where they were able to build by bringing materiel and people up by ladders and baskets.
The first monastery that was built on a summit dates to the 14th century, when Athanasios Koinovitis, a monk from Mount Athos, ascended and built the first structure, the Great Meteoron.
4. HOW IT WAS FORMED
About 60 million years ago, a series of earth movements pushed the seabed upwards, creating a high plateau and causing many vertical fault lines in the thick layer of sandstone.
The rocks are made from sandstone and conglomerate rocks.
5. WHO LIVES THERE
High above the Meteora pillars live 60 monks and nuns in the monasteries.
6. HOW TO REACH THE MONASTERIES
The Monastery of the Holy Trinity and Great Meteoron are less accessible and have over 300 steps.
Rousanou, Varlaam, and Saint Nicolaos have an average number of 140.
Note that some of the monasteries apart from the staircases have to walk uphill in paved paths.
7. TAKING ROCKS HOME
Do not take rocks home with you! This is a sacred place and Greece has strict laws to protect its hundreds of antiquity sites. It is illegal to own, buy, sell or excavate antiquities, and items found accidentally must be handed over to authorities.
8. DRESS CODE
To enter the monasteries of Meteora a dress code is enforced. Men must wear long pants and women, long skirts. Sleeveless shirts are not allowed. You can bring a scarf and wrap it around your waist but if you don't have one don't worry, in some monasteries, they have skirts you could take at the entrance to monasteries, but some will make you buy a scarf for 6 EURO if you don't have a scarf or sweater to wrap around.
9. NUMBER OF MONASTERIES
There are 24 monasteries but only 6 are active.
Here's a list of the 6 active monasteries: Great Meteoron Monastery, Monastery of Varlaam, Monastery of Ayía Triada (Holy Trinity), Monastery of Ayios Nikolaos Anapafsas (St. Nicholas), Monastery of Rousanou (St. Barbara), Monastery of Ayios Stefanos (St. Stephen).
10. VISITING HOURS AND PRICE
Entrance to each monastery costs 3 EURO per person. Make sure to check the visiting hours before you visit since each monastery has got its own different hours.