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Meteora (in lingua greca: Μετέωρα, pronunciato [mɛtɛoɾɐ], letteralmente "in mezzo all'aria" dal greco "META'" "in mezzo a" e "AER" aria, "sospeso in aria" o "in alto nei cieli") è una famosa località ubicata nel nord della Grecia, al bordo nord occidentale della pianura della Tessaglia, nei pressi della cittadina di Kalambaka. È un importante centro della chiesa ortodossa, nonché una rinomata meta turistica, ed è stata dichiarata patrimonio dell'umanità dall'Unesco.
Dei ventiquattro monasteri edificati con enormi sacrifici in cima a falesie di arenaria, attualmente solo sei sono ancora abitati, in parte recuperati dopo anni di abbandono:
Agios Nikolaos (San Nicola)
Agios Stefanos (Santo Stéfano)
Aghia Triada (Santa Trinità)
Gran Meteora, o monastero della Trasfigurazione
Roussanou, o di Santa Barbara
Varlaam
monastero di Ypapanti
Kalampaka - Grecia Continentale - Giugno 2017
The Meteora (Greek: Μετέωρα) is a rock formation in central Greece hosting one of the largest and most precipitously built complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries, second in importance only to Mount Athos. The six monasteries are built on immense natural pillars and hill-like rounded boulders that dominate the local area. It is located near the town of Kalambaka at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains.
Meteora is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List under criteria I, II, IV, V and VII.
One of the monastries build on cliffs in northern Greece. No one knows how they got up there to start building them but they were effective protection from invading armies for hundreds of years.
Hope you enjoy Halloweens.
The Greek islands are great, but head inland and explore. One of the most incredible places in the country is Meteora, a tasty dish of strange rock formations with monasteries precariously perched among and on top of the rocks.
Kalambaka, Greece
Unesco World Heritage Site
You can see 5 of the 6 remaining monasteries in this picture.
The monastery complex of Meteora, Greece, sits thousands of feet above the ground, making it one of the most remote places to live and worship in the world.
While 30 monasteries were built over the centuries, today only six remain active.
Please press "L" and zoom to appreciate the immensity.
DS7_8645-Pano
500px.com/photo/37842156/meteora-by-giorgos-ntachris?from...
The Metéora ( "suspended rocks", "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above") is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos. At the end of the 14th century, the Byzantine Empire's 800-year reign over northern Greece was being increasingly threatened by Turkish raiders who wanted control over the fertile plain of Thessaly. The hermit monks, seeking a retreat from the expanding Turkish occupation, found the inaccessible rock pillars of Meteora to be an ideal refuge. More than 20 monasteries were built, beginning in the 14th centuryThe six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece. The nearest town is Kalambaka. The Metéora is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List
Studies suggest that the pinnacles were formed about 60 million years ago during the Tertiary Period. Weathering and earthquakes then shaped them into their present shape.
Continuous weathering by water, wind and extremes of temperature turned them into huge rock pillars, marked by horizontal lines which geologists maintain were made by the waters of a prehistoric sea.
Until the 17th century, the primary means of conveying goods and people from these eyries was by means of baskets and ropes.
During World War II the site was bombed and many art treasures were stolen.
Only six of the monasteries remain today. Of these six, five are inhabited by men, one by women. Each monastery has fewer than 10 inhabitants. The monasteries are now tourist attractions.
Here is Monastery Rousanou and depth of the Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapafsas.
Meteora, Greece
The Meteora (/ˌmɛtiˈɔːrə/;[1] Greek: Μετέωρα, pronounced [meˈteora]) is a rock formation in central Greece hosting one of the largest and most precipitously built complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries, second in importance only to Mount Athos.[2] The six (of an original twenty-four) monasteries are built on immense natural pillars and hill-like rounded boulders that dominate the local area. Between the 13th and 14th century, the twenty-four monasteries were established atop the rocks.[3] Meteora is located near the town of Kalabaka at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains.[4]
Meteora is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List under criteria I, II, IV, V, and VII.[5]
The name means "lofty", "elevated", and is etymologically related to meteor.[6]
Ancient history
Caves in the vicinity of Meteora were inhabited continuously between 50,000 and 5,000 years ago. The oldest known example of a built structure, a stone wall that blocked two-thirds of the entrance to the Theopetra cave, was constructed 23,000 years ago, probably as a barrier against cold winds – the Earth was experiencing an ice age at the time – and many Paleolithic and Neolithic artifacts of human occupation have been found within the caves.[3][15]
Meteora is not mentioned in classical Greek myths nor in Ancient Greek literature. The first people documented to inhabit Meteora after the Neolithic Era were an ascetic group of hermit monks who, in the ninth century AD, moved up to the ancient pinnacles. They lived in hollows and fissures in the rock towers, some as high as 1800 ft (550m) above the plain. This great height, combined with the sheerness of the cliff walls, kept away all but the most determined visitors. Initially, the hermits led a life of solitude, meeting only on Sundays and special days to worship and pray in a chapel built at the foot of a rock known as Dupiani.[2]
As early as the eleventh century, monks occupied the caverns of Meteora. However, monasteries were not built until the fourteenth century, when the monks sought somewhere to hide in the face of an increasing number of Turkish attacks on Greece.[16][17] At this time, access to the top was via removable ladders or windlass. Currently, getting up there is a lot simpler due to steps being carved into the rock during the 1920s. Of the 24 monasteries, only six (four of men, two of women) are still functioning, with each housing fewer than ten individuals.[18]
History and construction of the monasteries
The exact date of the establishment of the monasteries is widely believed to be unknown, however there are clues to when each of the monasteries were constructed. By the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, a rudimentary monastic state had formed called the Skete of Stagoi and was centred around the still-standing church of Theotokos (Mother of God).[2] By the end of the twelfth century, an ascetic community had flocked to Meteora.
In 1344, Athanasios Koinovitis from Mount Athos brought a group of followers to Meteora. From 1356 to 1372, he founded The Great Meteoron Monastery on the Broad Rock, which was perfect for the monks; they were safe from political upheaval and had complete control of the entry to the monastery. The only means of reaching it was by climbing a long ladder, which was drawn up whenever the monks felt threatened.[19]
At the end of the fourteenth century, the Byzantine Empire's reign over northern Greece was being increasingly threatened by Turkish raiders who wanted control over the fertile plain of Thessaly. The hermit monks, seeking a retreat from the expanding Turkish occupation, found the inaccessible rock pillars of Meteora to be an ideal refuge. More than 20 monasteries were built, beginning in the fourteenth century;[17] only six remain today.
In 1517, Theophanes built the monastery of Varlaam, which was reputed to house the finger of St. John and the shoulder blade of St. Andrew.[20]
Access to the monasteries was originally (and deliberately) difficult, requiring either long ladders latched together or large nets used to haul up both goods and people. This required quite a leap of faith – the ropes were replaced, so the story goes, only "when the Lord let them break".[21] In the words of UNESCO, "The net in which intrepid pilgrims were hoisted up vertically alongside the 373 metres (1,224 ft) cliff where the Varlaam monastery dominates the valley symbolizes the fragility of a traditional way of life that is threatened with extinction."[22]
Until the seventeenth century, the primary means of conveying goods and people from these eyries was by means of baskets and ropes.[23]
In 1921, Queen Marie of Romania visited Meteora, becoming the first woman ever allowed to enter the Great Meteoron monastery.[24]
In the 1920s there was an improvement in the arrangements. Steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau. Thx to Wikipedia!
The rock, at first glance, and from a distance, looks volcanic, like an old volcanic plug, but it's not, it is sandstone formed in a shallow sea some 60 million years ago.
Meteora is a rock formation in central Greece hosting one of the largest and most precipitously built complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries, second in importance only to Mount Athos.
The six (of an original twenty four) monasteries are built on immense natural pillars and hill-like rounded boulders that dominate the local area. It is located near the town of Kalambaka at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains.
(Wikipedia)
This is a panorama of six photos and shows 4 of the 6 surviving monasteries. The other two are to the left of this frame.
Sunset Meteora.
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I've just been informed that the REAL history behind these monasteries in Meteora, Greece is not the 1981 James Bond film partially shot there. Who knew? Turns out monks built 24 of these on top of the "columns in the sky" in the 14th and 15th centuries. Six remain. They did this in impossible conditions without modern construction equipment and methods. I can't imagine. So OK, I guess that's probably more impressive than the James Bond film...but it was pretty good! ;>
Panorama from Kastraki
and so from Ioannina I drove for just about 2 hours, the first hour on an empty motorway with lots of tunnels, the second on a very uneven and windy mountain road, to reach the village of Kastraki which sits below the imposing and spectacular cliffs of Meteora.
Autumn in Meteora, Greece. One can clearly see the nearby Varlaam (All Saints') monastery (above, right), well separated from the Transfiguration's monastery behind it, hidden in the mist. One can see St. Nicholas Anapafsas's monastery, too (farther away, on the left).
Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The sandstone rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world herage sites. Monks have lived on Meteora since 9th century AD. The first cells of Varlaam monastery were built on the rock circa 1350 and so was a church dedicated to the Three Hierarchs; the first buildings were expanded into an entire monastery in 1517–8.
Canon EOS R5
Canon Canon RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM @ 24 mm
ISO 250 – f/11 – [ 1/25 & 1/10 sec ] HDR