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#greece #ig_greece #wu_greece #loves_greece_ #greece_islands #corfu #ancient #architecture #liston #hellasgreece #perfect_greece #historical #travelgram #travel #travelphotography #anrchitecturephotography #great_capture_greece #nightcolor

Baros is a remote mountain pass at an altitude of ~1920 m ( ~6,300 ft ). The Baros Pass is one of the highest in the Balkans. It is impassable because of the extreme weather conditions during many cold months every year. The pass connects Thessaly, Greece (from Chaliki and other villages of the river Aspropotamos) with Epirus (village Kalarrytes).

⛰ ❄️

A high-key and high dynamic range shot into the sun of two monasteries in snow-capped Meteora, Greece. The Varlaam abbey (monastery) is viewed in the foreground; the Roussanou nunnery is seen below right, farther away. Light snow has fallen and blanketed the extreme terrain all around.

The Varlaam monastery was built in 1517-1518 on a 1,808 ft high (551 m) rock. The Roussanou (St. Barbara's) monastery was built in c.1528 on an extremely precipitous rock formation (1,588 ft or 484 n high) with very limited space available on its plateau.

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

Serifos…Colors of Greece 🇬🇷💙

Snow falls and has blanketed the extreme terrain all around two monasteries (abbeys) in Meteora, Greece.

The Roussanou (St. Barbara's) nunnery is viewed in the foreground. It was built in c.1528 on an extremely precipitous rock formation (1,588 ft or 484 m high) with very limited space available on its plateau.

St. Nicholas's (Anapafsás) abbey is seen above right, farther away. A church on its first floor dates from the 14th century. Its main church (katholikon) was built in early 16th century and is famous for its exquisite frescoes painted by Theophanes the Cretan in 1527. The rock formation is 1,375 ft (419 m) high.

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

The swollen river Pēneiós (after the rains) as it flows beneath a bridge, next to Meteora, Greeece. On this long exposure shot, one can see the silver whirls of the river that Homer described (Iliad, book 2, 753).

The river Peneios (aka Peneus) is the main river of the plain of Thessaly with a total length of more than 124 miles (200 km). It rises in the Pindus range of mountains, crosses the valley of Tempē (cutting a path between Mt. Olympus and Ossa) and then it flows into the Aegean Sea. In mythology, the god Peneios was son of Oceanus and Tēthys.

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

Here are a few lines from Homer’s poetry, mentioning the river:

“…τῷ δ᾽ Ἐνιῆνες ἕποντο μενεπτόλεμοί τε Περαιβοὶ

οἳ περὶ Δωδώνην δυσχείμερον οἰκί᾽ ἔθεντο,

οἵ τ᾽ ἀμφ᾽ ἱμερτὸν Τιταρησσὸν ἔργα νέμοντο

ὅς ῥ᾽ ἐς Πηνειὸν προΐει καλλίρροον ὕδωρ,

οὐδ᾽ ὅ γε ΠΗΝΕΙΩι συμμίσγεται ΑΡΓΥΡΟΔΙΝΗι,

ἀλλά τέ μιν καθύπερθεν ἐπιρρέει ἠΰτ᾽ ἔλαιον…”

—Ὅμηρος, Β, 749–754

In English:

“…Lovely Titaressos, who into Peneios (Peneus) casts his bright current: yet he is not mixed with the SILVER WHIRLS of Peneios, but like oil is floated along the surface above him: since he is broken from the water of Styx, the fearful oath-river…”

—Homer (Iliad, book 2, lines 749–754)

It was in 1212 AD that the Kēpina monastery was built in Epirus, Greece. It was nested within the yawning cave of a craggy, vertical cliff (gorge of the river Kalarrytikos or Calarrhyticus).

The monastery is dedicated to the Assumption (of Virgin Mary). The Kēpina name derives from the word for gardens (kēpoe in Greek).

Six stately young women stand like sentinels on a marble parapet atop the Athenian Acropolis. They are gazing at the Parthenon, the great temple of Athena that, even in its present ruin, is one of the marvels of the world. Casual and relaxed, the women are balancing a heavy stone roof on their heads. It is a remarkable display of female power: voluptuous curves combined with massive, muscular strength.

Since the Roman era, columns shaped like women have been called caryatids. The word comes from the Spartan city of Caryae, where young women did a ring dance around an open-air statue of the goddess Artemis, locally identified with a walnut tree. Antiquity’s most famous caryatids were these six of the Acropolis.

By:Camille Paglia

Seen in Explore Jan 17, 2018

Shot of Mt. Velouchi, aka Tymfristos (Tymfrēstos) 7,585 ft (2,312 m), Greece, as viewed from a distance of 9.6 miles (15½ km) away (from Palaeo Mikro Chōrio) in late August 2022.

The largest city of the Evrytania County is caled Karpenēssi; it is located at the roots of the mountain and is seen below the mountain at the centre of the frame.

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM @ 105 mm

ISOÂ 100 – f/13 – [ 1/125 & 1/50 sec ] HDR

The source of Aoös river lies in lovely Epirus, Greece, at an altitude (elevation) of 4,430 ft (1,350 m), where a reservoir was made. During the golden hour, a photographer there is blessed with all sorts of autumnal colors, co-existing with the surrounding fir trees’ green, too.

The Aoös river (aka Aōos) is 169 miles long (272 km). It rises in the Pindus mountains’ range (where a hydroelectric dam was constructed in 1987), then flows through the Vikos-Aoös canyon or gorge. It finally enters Albania (where it is called Vjosë) and continues for 119 miles (192 km) before joining the Adriatic sea.

Epirus is the northwesternmost region of Greece. The scenery is breathtaking, a unique combination of picturesque mountains, valleys and lakes or rivers.

Let Photography take you to a dreamy place in winter: Imagine a cabin in the woods; inside you are protected from the howling, icy wind. Listen to the falling rain and gaze out of the frozen window: Poetry awaits to be seen through the wet glass:

❝︎The Fitful Alternations of the Rain❞︎

“When the chill wind, languid as with pain

Of its own heavy moisture, here and there

Drives through the gray and beamless atmosphere”

—Percy Bysshe Shelley

This is a shot of an octagonal building located within the Varlaam monastery dating back to c.1350, on Meteora, Greece. At first glance, the building looks familiar because in almost each and every monastery of Mt. Athos there is a similar, iconic octagonal building called ‘Phialē’ of Sanctification; a typical Athonite Phialē looks like a pavilion, can be roofed with lead and contains a basin filled with Sanctified water (holy water). Nonetheless the octagonal building on Meteora serves an altogether different purpose.

Can you please leave a comment with the use you imagine / propose the building has…?!…⁉️

A second shot will clarify things shortly!

I can assure you that the famous sunset of Santorini is indeed breathtaking and a truly unique experience to live.

However for this shot I wanted to create something different.

I waited for the Sun to get below the horizon and to have those deep afterglow colors in the sky during twilight, in combination with the lit lights of the narrow alleys of the village.

Feel free to check my website for my Landscape, Travel and Astrophotography Workshops.

More workshops will be announced very soon😉

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www.christopheanagno.com/blog/reviews/

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Filter: #HOYA ProND1000

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Pun bitterly intended upon the meaning of “Fall,” as either the season (autumn) or as the movement (of leaves down, towards the ground). The shot juxtaposes such a Fall (of leaves) with the pictorial invitation to Ascend by climbing the steps that were once carved out from the rock.

It was as late as in the 1930s that these steps were carved out from the solid rock to replace the earlier used way of ascending: the last person recorded to have used the shaky and rickety rope ladder was in 1911: monk Eugene of the Great Meteoron abbey (monastery) fell off the cliff whilst attempting to climb up that old ladder.

The stairs lead to the remote and deserted Hypapantē monastery (abbey) dating back to 1367 in Meteora, Greece. The abbey was destroyed by fire in 1809 on the instructions of a notorious local Ottoman bully, based in Ioannina.

Hypapantē is the Greek word for “Candlemas” (Luke 2:22–38). The abbey is nested within the rock formation at a height of 230 ft (70 m) above ground.

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

The source of Aoös river lies in lovely Epirus, Greece, at an altitude (elevation) of 4,430 ft (1,350 m), where a reservoir was made. During the golden hour, a photographer there is blessed with all sorts of autumnal colors, co-existing with the surrounding fir trees’ green, too.

The Aoös river (aka Aōos) is 169 miles long (272 km). It rises in the Pindus mountains’ range (where a hydroelectric dam was constructed in 1987), then flows through the Vikos-Aoös canyon or gorge. It finally enters Albania (where it is called Vjosë) and continues for 119 miles (192 km) before joining the Adriatic sea.

Epirus is the northwesternmost region of Greece. The scenery is breathtaking, a unique combination of picturesque mountains, valleys and lakes or rivers.

The source of Aoös river lies in lovely Epirus, Greece, at an altitude (elevation) of 4,430 ft (1,350 m), where a reservoir was made. During the golden hour, a photographer there is blessed with all sorts of autumnal colors, co-existing with the surrounding fir trees' green, too.

The Aoös river (aka Aōos) is 169 miles long (272 km). It rises in the Pindus mountains' range (where a hydroelectric dam was constructed in 1987), then flows through the Vikos-Aoös canyon or gorge. It finally enters Albania (where it is called Vjosë) and continues for 119 miles (192 km) before joining the Adriatic sea.

Epirus is the north-westernmost region of Greece. The scenery is breathtaking, a unique combination of picturesque mountains, valleys and lakes or rivers.

The source of Aoös river lies in lovely Epirus, Greece, at an altitude (elevation) of 4,430 ft (1,350 m), where a reservoir was made. During the golden hour, a photographer there is blessed with all sorts of autumnal colors, co-existing with the surrounding fir trees’ green, too.

The Aoös river (aka Aōos) is 169 miles long (272 km). It rises in the Pindus mountains’ range (where a hydroelectric dam was constructed in 1987), then flows through the Vikos-Aoös canyon or gorge. It finally enters Albania (where it is called Vjosë) and continues for 119 miles (192 km) before joining the Adriatic sea.

Epirus is the northwesternmost region of Greece. The scenery is breathtaking, a unique combination of picturesque mountains, valleys and lakes or rivers.

Baros is a remote mountain pass at an altitude of ~1920 m ( ~6,300 ft ). Stones often fall off or slide from the steep slopes downwards: they either fall down the craggy cliff making eerie noises or they land on the pavement of the road.

The Baros Pass is one of the highest in the Balkans. It is impassable because of the extreme weather conditions during many cold months every year. The pass connects Thessaly, Greece (from Chaliki and other villages of the river Aspropotamos) with Epirus (village Kalarrytes).

By Bousboura Kondilo #bw_lover # bw_greece #bw #igers #igers_greece #ig_greece #athensvoice #igphotoworld #photographers #instagood #igers_gr #lifo #instagramers #instagram

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A composite photograph of October’s 2nd full moon rising over Devil’s Tower in Meteora, Greece. This full moon coincides with Halloween in 2020.

Devil’s Tower is the steepest, distinctively rectangular rock formation seen beneath the moon. Greek climbers call it Pýrgos Dhiavólou. It belongs to the West subgroup of Meteora, Greece.

The rock Platýs Líthos (with the “Great Meteoron” abbey built atop) is seen to the left of Devil’s Tower.

The rock Hypsilotéra is seen to the right of Devil’s Tower. The Varlaam rock (with Varlaam abbey or monastery built on it) is seen to the right of Hypsilotera.

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses which were formed 60 million years ago are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

Baros is a remote mountain pass at an altitude of ~1920 m ( ~6,300 ft ). The Baros Pass is one of the highest in the Balkans. It is impassable because of the extreme weather conditions during many cold months every year. The pass connects Thessaly, Greece (from Chaliki and other villages of the river Aspropotamos) with Epirus (village Kalarrytes).

⛰ ❄️

The source of Aoös river lies in lovely Epirus, Greece, at an altitude (elevation) of 4,430 ft (1,350 m), where a reservoir was made. During the golden hour, a photographer there is blessed with all sorts of autumnal colors, co-existing with the surrounding fir trees’ green, too.

The Aoös river (aka Aōos) is 169 miles long (272 km). It rises in the Pindus mountains’ range (where a hydroelectric dam was constructed in 1987), then flows through the Vikos-Aoös canyon or gorge. It finally enters Albania (where it is called Vjosë) and continues for 119 miles (192 km) before joining the Adriatic sea.

Epirus is the northwesternmost region of Greece. The scenery is breathtaking, a unique combination of picturesque mountains, valleys and lakes or rivers

Exquisite wine is produced from vines grown in the fertile land that surrounds Meteora, Greece. This is a view of a vineyrard directly beneath the Pyxari rock formation. Pyxari is located close to “Bándovas” or “Kofinás,” at walking distance from the village Kastraki.

Can you spot the two cave-dwellings or hermitages visible on Pyxari?

On the right, below, one sees St. Anthony’s hermitage, built in c. 1782 AD or earlier inside 3 caves. The 3-storey building was restored in 2005 after a fire in 1970. It contains a basilica on its top floor.

On the left, above, St. Gregory’s hermitage is visible (multiple-storey cells inside caves with wooden balconies and rope ladders in front of each), dating from 1374 AD. The wooden balconies were preserved because they were never reached by rain thanks to the fact that Pyxari rock formation is leaning towards its SW side.

The town beneath Meteora, Greece came to a standstill. The streets are empty and deserted during the second lockdown imposed by the Greek government. A dramatic, cloudy sky crowns the ghost of what once used to be an attractive destination for tourists.

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

Shot captured in RAW by an iPhone XS back camera during a short corona walk (dogwalk), on November 15, 2020.

Snow falls and has blanketed the Holy Trinity abbey in Meteora, Greece. In Greek it is called “Haghía Triáda” monastery. It was built in 1362 AD or earlier near the top of a rock formation bearing the same name and rising to an elevation of 1,870 feet (570 m). The Greek flag flying. One can use the 149 steps (carved in the rock in 1925) in order to ascend to the Holy Trinity monastery.

Greek Orthodox Church celebrates Holy Trinity on Monday following Pentecost or Whit Sunday (Pentecost occurs 50 days after Resurrection, aka Easter).

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

Sifnos….Colors of Greece 💙🇬🇷

The January Full Moon is named Wolf Moon due to the howling of the wolves that can be heard in this time of year more often than at any other season. This is the very first full moon gracing the sky in 2021. On this shot the Moon is rising above the snow-capped Mount Olympus (2,918 m or 9,570 ft, Greece), as viewed from South West, from afar (from a distance of 43 miles or 69 km away), from the outskirts of Kalampaka. It was a very, very cold evening indeed high up on the windy mountains!

The highest mountain in Greece was thought as the 12 gods' everlasting residence, according to Homer. The sacred mountain has long inspired a legion of poets.

Lunar data:

illumination 99.9%

age: 15.4 days

magnitude: -12.67

distance from Earth: 382,117 km

azimuth: 62.8°

altitude: 1.8°

Camera Settings:

Canon EOS M50

Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm

ISO 400 - f/8 - 1/1250 sec

An attempt to pictorially represent the concept of sound and, especially, eerie noises echoing through a haunted door or gate…

The shot was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's troop of echoes which came flowing through the door in his poem lines of ‘The Haunted Palace.’

This is a side view of the remote and deserted Hypapantē monastery in Meteora, Greece, at sunset. In 1367 the abbey was nested within the yawning cave of a craggy rock formation in the same way an eagle would build its aerie (aka aërie, eyry) upon a clifftop.

Hypapantē is the Greek word for “Candlemas” (Luke 2:22–38). The abbey had been destroyed by fire in 1809 on the instructions of a notorious Ottoman bully, based in Ioannina, then ruined. It has remained uninhabited ever since 1809, despite being restored in 1995-2000. An elevator now stands where a rope ladder once used to hang from.

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

A high dynamic range composite of two shots.

The swollen river Pēneiós (after the rains) as it flows beneath a bridge, next to Meteora, Greeece. On this long exposure shot, one can see the silver whirls of the river that Homer described (Iliad, book 2, 753).

The river Peneios (aka Peneus) is the main river of the plain of Thessaly with a total length of more than 124 miles (200 kms). It rises in the Pindus range of mountains, crosses the valley of Tempē (cutting a path between Mt. Olympus and Ossa) and then it flows into the Aegean Sea. In mythology, the god Peneios was son of Oceanus and Tēthys.

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

Here are a few lines from Homer’s poetry, mentioning the river:

“…τῷ δ᾽ Ἐνιῆνες ἕποντο μενεπτόλεμοί τε Περαιβοὶ

οἳ περὶ Δωδώνην δυσχείμερον οἰκί᾽ ἔθεντο,

οἵ τ᾽ ἀμφ᾽ ἱμερτὸν Τιταρησσὸν ἔργα νέμοντο

ὅς ῥ᾽ ἐς Πηνειὸν προΐει καλλίρροον ὕδωρ,

οὐδ᾽ ὅ γε ΠΗΝΕΙΩι συμμίσγεται ΑΡΓΥΡΟΔΙΝΗι,

ἀλλά τέ μιν καθύπερθεν ἐπιρρέει ἠΰτ᾽ ἔλαιον…”

—Ὅμηρος, Β, 749–754

🇺🇸🇬🇧 In English:

“…Lovely Titaressos, who into Peneios (Peneus) casts his bright current: yet he is not mixed with the SILVER WHIRLS of Peneios, but like oil is floated along the surface above him: since he is broken from the water of Styx, the fearful oath-river…”

—Homer (Iliad, book 2, lines 749–754)

Kalampaka was a border town or outpost of Greek territories (with Customs Office at the nearby village Haghióphyllo) during Trikoupis’s premiership. It was this prime minister who had the railway network constructed in 1880-1890s. The terminus or last stop or END of the railroad line was Kalampaka (viewed in my recent shot during a corona dog walk).

The railroad line has never been extended westwards (towards Ioannina), despite the fact that more territories were liberated later. Trikoupis also declared the bankruptcy of Greek state in 1893. So, his legacy has finally remained as that of an ill-fated premier, in spite of his good intentions for modernizing the country.

In this shot’s title the “END” word is used with the meaning of the “verge,” or the “border” where the territory ends or extends to. A pun is intended for the same “END” word to be used in the next shot’s title, too, with an altogether distinct meaning, associated with a different era and another prime minister; a possible (dis-)association of the latter with catastrophe remains still to be seen…

Hermitage of St. Nicholas Bándovas in Meteora, Greece in the fall. It dates from c.1387 AD or earlier. It’s a 6-storey building, wholly nested in a cave, located at the north side of Bandovas rock, close to the village Kastraki. The hermitage was shelled and almost destroyed in 1943 during the German & Italian occupation, then repaired in 1961. Major restoration took place in 1876 and 1997.

Cave-dwelling asceticism in Meteora was an early form of monasticism, practiced by hermits or recluse monks. In Greek Orthodox church, such dwellings are known as “sketes” (σκῆτες) or small friaries, owned by (or dependent on) some neighboring Monastery (Holy Trinity monastery, in the case of this hermitage).

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

The “Museum of Geological Formations of Meteora,” Greece, is located directly beneath the rock formation called “Holy Spirit.” Both the lofty geological formation and the Museum fit nicely together in the same frame. One can’t think of any other place more matching or suitable for a geological Museum than there.

It was in 1902 that the 4,951 sq.ft. (460 sq.m.) neoclassical building was erected (the top floor in 1926). Until 1985 the building was the primary (elementary) school in the village Kastraki.

The construction was based on the same architectural plan as for four hundred other schools, too, throughout rural Greece. It was the state Engineer D. Kallias who designed the plan and established the first specifications for constructing schools in Greece, laid down as a Royal Decree (May 17, 1894, Govt Gaz: June 4, 1894); the standards set were inspired by Jules Ferry’s regulations on building schools in France in 1880. The public buildings of that bygone era had an imposing and monumental architectural style, strongly influenced by German neoclassicism. The 407 identical schools were often notorious for not matching their surroundings and the local traditional architecture.

The geology Museum was inaugurated in May 2018, after maintenance works (much needed).

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

In 1520 St. Bēssariōn (bishop of Larissa, Greece) had a bridge erected to cross the river Pēneios (aka Peneus) close to the village Sarakēna (aka Sarakina). The stone bridge was 394 feet long (120 m) and had six arches. In 1970 two arches collapsed; then they were built anew using concrete.

The bridge was deliberately cut off (severed) in three points by “Klefts” [¹] in order to intercept (or impede) the march of Ali Pasha’s troops [²] raiding against villages in Thessaly.

On and around the historic bridge a battle took place on April 6, 1878: three warlords’ revolutionary contingents [³] inflicted a heavy defeat on the Turkish troops.

The rock formation “Petra” (a climbers’ favorite) is viewed behind the bridge. It is similar to the nearby Meteora rock formations. A chapel was built beneath Petra in the 17th century; it was dedicated to Christ’s Apostles.

[1] KLEFTS: at first armed outlaws or irregulars in insurgency against Ottoman occupation, soon to become the first warriors of the Independence War in 1821

[2] ALI PASHA was the infamous satrap or tyrant of Ioannina, a Muslim Albanian who held sway over Epirus and other Greek-inhabited territory in the years before 1821

[3] The 3 WARLORDS were: D. Koukouravas, V. Chostevas & N. Paschalis)

On November 5, 2020 a fine mist rose before my camera lens; the lofty rock formations were shrouded in it. Here and there tops of the rocks loomed out of the mist and so did four monasteries (abbeys), too. Swirling and drifting veils of mist in the wind were delicate and spectacular. The ethereal beauty of their sublime flow was evading from being captured, as it was intangible for still photography; capturing was better achieved by means of a timelapse 4k video (link in comment below).

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses were formed 60 million years ago, are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.

The four monasteries viewed on the right are from top to bottom:

1.– “Great Meteoron” (aka “Transfiguration of the Saviour”)

2.– “Varlaam” (All Saints' abbey)

3.– “Roussanou” (St. Barbara's )

4.– “St. Nicholas Anapausás” (Anapafsás)

A Virgin Mary’s very old church is nested within a cave 164 ft (50 m) above ground, on a lofty rock formation. The church dates back to 1328 or 1362 A.D., when it was part of an abbey (monastery). It is located 4½ miles (7 km) to the North of the village Vlachava near Meteora, Greece, at a position called Palaeócastro (Greek for Old Castle). Steps were carved out of the rock in 1937.

The name of the church is “Virgin Mary In A Cave” (Panaghía hē Spēlaeōtissa) or “Virgin Mary at Mēkanē” (Παναγία ἡ Σπηλαιώτισσα ἢ τῆς Μήκανης), but the locals simply call it Palaeopanayiá (Palaeopanaghiá, Παλαιοπαναγιά). Palaeopanayiá is dependent on St. Stephen’s monastery (Meteora).

Meteora is the name of the group comprising many impressive and lofty rock formations: The height of the sandstone megaliths ranges between 1,000-2,067 ft (300-630 m). The rock masses which were formed 60 million years ago are geologically unique and listed in UNESCO world heritage sites.