Meteora, Greece

We stayed in the town of Kastraki at the edge of the majestic cliffs of Meteora.  In the early 11th century, byzantine monks inhabited the area, climbing the great rocks to be alone with God.  in the 14th century, construction began on the first monastery, which sits perched the highest of the formations and thus earning its name "Meteroa" which means "suspended in the air" in Greek.  Further monasteries were built (24 in total) but only six still stand today.  The area was truly unique and the views from the monasteries absolutely stunning.  Today, a road winds its way up to Great Meteoron dropping of loads of tourists and a staircase has been built for easy access to the monastery.  In the past, pilgrims hoping to visit the site made the hike up into the passes of the rocks where they were lifted by net to gain access to the monastery. (The old lift tower can be seen in the picture of Great Meteoron.)  We took off from our hotel on foot hoping to make the trek up to Great Meteora.  After choosing the wrong trail and hiking in the wrong direction for about 30 minutes we turned around, walked back to the road and eventually found the proper trail.  It was a well marked track.  Sometimes I wonder how we've made it this far.  The hike up through the giant rocks was as amazing as it was grueling but the sight of Great Meteoron perched on the top of its rock was well worth it.  

Special notice:  we like comments, we read all comments!!  Comments good!!

pic 1   - the lift tower at Great Meteoron  pic 2 - arrival in Kastraki    pic 3 and 4 - Meteora Agios Nikolaos Anapafsa perched of rock   pic 5 - Kastraki from Great Meteoron   pic 6 - Monastery - Meteora Agios Nikolaos Anapafsa