The Amazing Meteora

So on the 15th August, with Seaclusion all locked up and a small overnight bag packed, we jumped in a taxi to the airport to pick up our hire car for 2 days. Beggars cant be choosers at this time of year in Greece, so when we were presented with a Fiat Panda, instead of a Hyundai, we really couldn’t complain. It was actually pretty nippy as David aka Lewis turned it into a Formula Fiat car and we raced our way southward to Meteora.

Meteora

Meteora Greece is part of central Greece and is placed on the north-western edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pindus Mountains and the Peneios River. It constitutes one of the most dramatic landscapes of the country. It is a UNESCO World Heritage listed place meaning “suspended in the air” and are eroded rocks formed approximately 60 million years ago by earthquakes and weathering, on which monks built 24 almost inaccessible monasteries, built during the 15th century despite incredible difficulties, with the only access via either long ladders lashed together or large nets used to haul up both goods and people. Now only 6 are in use, 3 of which are in fact nunneries.

After a 4 hour drive to get there, we approached the area, soaking up the views in wonder.

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We then found our way to where we were staying for the night, the Doupiani House Hotel, said to have the most panoramic view of the area. They weren’t lying!

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We went exploring to get the lay of the land to work out which monasteries we wanted to visit in the morning, we certainly won’t be going to have the time to see them all, and to find the best spot to watch the sun go down. We will let the pics do the talking!

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Having selected our sunset spot, we parked up to scrabble over the rocks, cameras in hand and sat absorbing the views and the people around us.

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Finally, having said goodbye to the sun, we lifted our numb bums off the rocks and drove back to the tiny village to a local taverna for 1/2 litre of cold red wine and typical Greek affair, then headed back to the hotel for hopefully a good night’s sleep without even a slight rock, if our bodies could acclimatise that quickly!

Success, but we still woke with the sun, which was a good thing, as it allowed us enough time to take breakfast in the hotel’ gardens, check out and get back up to the first of the monsteries, Varlaam, before the hordes arrived!

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Varlaam

The Holy Monastery of Varlaam is the second biggest monastery of Meteora, initally founded in the mid 14th century by a monk named, you guessed it, Varlaam. However, after he died the cliff was abandoned by the rest of the monks, almost turned into ruins, until in the early 16th century two priest-monks Theophanes and Nectarios, the so-called Apsarades Brothers, decided to reactivate the abandoned monastery of Varlaam. They settled on the cliff spending many years building a new chapel dedicated to “All Saints” in 1541. It is now mainly a museum for tourists, in fact we didn’t see a single monk whilst we were there!

We have to say, we did see the crown jewels first!

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Next stop, not quite a head of the crowds this time…

The Great Meteoro Monastery

 Is the biggest and oldest one of all. It was called the monastery which remains “suspended in the air” (meteoro), because of the cliff formation of a gigantic rock on top of which it was built. The Great Meteoro Monastery or “Megalo Meteoron” was founded in the 14th century by Saint Athanasios the Meteorite.

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Next, the first Nunnery on our tour… it must be said that today there are 15 active monks spread across 4 of the monasteries, and 50 nuns spread across 2, how does that work in modern day society?

Roussanou

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They were also much stricter, no photos whatsoever in the monastery, or should we say nunnery or convent?

Final one, also a nunnery..

St Stefanos

St. Stephen’s Monastery includes two cathedrals; the old 16th-century chapel which was severely damaged during WWII and the consequent Greek Civil War, and the 18th century main cathedral that is dedicated to Saint Charalambos and includes his holy relics.

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As amazing as they were, we were now a little monasteried out, so decided to say our farewells to this unique part of Greece and head inland to a place called Kastaria, passing through some beautiful scenery.

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Kastaria

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Kastaria is described as one of Macedonia’s most picturesque cities and is in fact regarded by the Greeks as one of the most beautiful towns in the country. Built on the an isthmus on the shores of lovely lake Orestiada and surrounded by mountains, it is a city of old neighbourhoods, narrow lanes, stately mansions and Byzantine churches, and a large number of very profitable fur and textile shops and factories.

Lake Orestiada or Kastoria, is said be especially beautiful in autumn and spring and is said to be a home to frogs, turtles and a great many species of birds.

Well, this place was a far cry, (although perhaps we just went at the wrong time of year), in fact if it wasn’t for the loads of locals taking lunch on the waterfront, we would have thought that something had happened to the town, like the lake being poisoned or something as there was absolutely no life on it except geese. Anywhere else, there would have been little boats, pedalos you name it on its surface, but not here. And what must have once been beautiful Venetian houses were left in a state of disrepair, bar the one that is featured on google promoting the area.

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Despite this, the sun was shining, the locals were friendly, the restaurants accommodating and we had a lovely long lunch by the waters edge, raised a glass to my Dad (RIP 21 years ago), before making our merry way back to Thessaloniki and Seaclusion, ready to set sail for the Haldikiki Peninsula in the morning.

16th August 2021