Meteora

What makes it special

Each monastery open to visitors stands on a pillar of its own. From the lay-bys along the road you see two or three at once, their walls built out to the very edge of the rock.

Great Meteoron is the oldest and the largest, founded in the 14th century by a monk named Athanasios. On the carved stairway, just before the gate and on your left, is the cave where he lived alone before he built on the summit. Inside, the sacristy holds the skulls of the monks who lived there over the centuries.

Varlaam, its near neighbour, has a courtyard that looks across the valley to Rousanou. St Nicholas Anapafsas keeps 16th-century frescoes of Bible scenes in its chapel and has a rooftop terrace. Holy Trinity, near the southern end, is reached by a long rock-cut stair, with a view down the valley from the top.

Visiting

Two signposted roads rise to the monasteries, one from Kastraki and one from the Trikala side of Kalabaka. The loop along the cliff tops is about a 15-minute drive end to end, slower behind coaches on the hairpins.

Start at the northern end with Great Meteoron and Varlaam, the two largest houses, a few minutes apart. Rousanou stands in the middle and St Nicholas Anapafsas just above Kastraki, while Holy Trinity and St Stephen hold the southern end above Kalabaka.

Two to four monasteries and a viewpoint or two fill a day. On foot, a circuit of about 16 kilometres from Kastraki or Kalabaka links them by forest paths and stretches of the road.

Tips

There are no cafés or restaurants up on the rocks, so carry water and a snack, and save the big meal for the villages below. Every monastery has public toilets.

Without a car, take the bus. From mid-March to the end of November it runs a route past every monastery, with its timetable and three stops posted by the municipal tourist office. It saves the walk up and leaves your legs for the stairs.