Meteora

 

Meteora means “suspending from the sky”. It is the name of the second largest monastic society in Greece. There are six monasteries built on rock pillars at an average elevation of around 300 meters. Although the first hermits arrived here in the 9th century the monastic society began to form in the 11th century. In 1344 an Athonite monk, Athanasios Koinovitis, arrived with a group of monks to further populate the growing community.

 

The monasteries are built on the top of the rocks. Access was deliberately difficult so to protect them from invaders. In the old days many monasteries could only be reached with the use of ladders and nets to hoist people and supplies.

 

The way to visit the monasteries is to drive down from Thessaloniki for 230kms. Usually visitors decide to spend one or two nights in one of the hotels in the area in order to be able to devote a full day visiting the monasteries. There are male and female monasteries and unlike Agion Oros, entrance is allowed to both sexes in all of them.

 

We can arrange your transportation and accommodation, or even help you rent a car so you can explore the area at the pace you feel like.