The monasteries that adorn the top of the impressive rocks that form "Ta Meteora" (meaning "the things in the air") are just unbelievable. In 1988 the whole complex of the monasteries was designated as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.
There is a small fee to enter each of the monasteries and proper clothing is required. Women must wear skirts below the knees though in some monasteries these are provided for women in shorts or slacks. Men's arms must be covered and they must wear long pants. The monasteries themselves, besides providing an incredible view are full of religious treasures, wall paintings, icons and libraries rich in old manuscripts. Most of them were built in the 1500's and then added to over the centuries.
For opening-times, please check with us, we'll be happy to give you any information needed. You can also get books, brochures, booklets, postcards and other things at the reception.
Agia
Triada
was
founded by the monk Dometius in the 15th century. It is decorated with
wall
paintings from the 18th century by the brothers Antonios and Nikolaos.
To get to the monastery you walk up 140 steps cut into the rock, past
the
church of Saint John the Baptis with its wall paintings from 1682. If
you have seen the James Bond Movie "For your eyes only", parts of that
movie were filmed in this monastery.Roussanou Monastery
was founded in 1545 by Joseph and Maximos, two brothers from Epirus who built it on the ruins of an even older church. To get to this monastery, you have to cross a small bridge from another peak. The church contains outstanding wall paintings, wood iconstasis, panel icons and icon stands.
Varlaam Monastery
was founded in 1517 by Theophanis and Nektarios Apsaradas from Ioanina, though the first to establish a monastery here was an ascetic anchorite named Varlaam. The monastery houses an important collection of relics, intricately carved wooden crosses, icons, embroidered epitaphoi and many other ecliastical treasures. It also contains frescos by the well-known post Byzantine iconographer Frangos Katelanos.
Megalo Meteoron
is the best known of the Monasteries and is built upon the highest rock. Founded by Athanasios the Meteorite, one of the most well-known figures in Orthodox monasticism, work was begun before 1382 and later completed by the Monk Joasaph. Because the Serbian Emporor Symeon Uros gave the monastry all his wealth and became a monk himself, it became the richest and most powerful of all the monasteries and contains some of the most beautiful wall paintings and post Byzantine Mural art that can be found in Greece as well as a museum collection in the refectory. The Katholikon has a twelve sided dome 24 meters in height with a striking series of frescos by Theophanis which depect the persecution of Christians by the Romans in somewhat gruesome detail.
Agios Stefanos
is the only convent in Meteora and has an unimpeded view of the plain towards Kalambaka. It is not known when the old church was built but the present katholikon dedicated to Saint Haralambos was built in 1798. The saint's skull which was given to the nuns as a gift from Prince Vladislav of Wallachia is kept here. The church of Saint Stefanos has a timber roof and wall paintings by the priest Ioannis from Stagoi painted in 1545.
Agios Nikolaos Anapafsas
was built in the 16th Century by Dionysious, the Metropolitan of Larissa and named after an old Patron. The Katholikon is decorated in wall paintings by the renowned Cretan Iconographer Theophanis Bathas-Strelitzas.