Meteora January 12

What can I say about Meteora?

The books all label it as where the monasteries meet the skies and they were right.
You have to experience it to understand .
But I hope I can give you some insight into this place with my words .

Arriving late in the afternoon you drive into the town of Kampalaka and are greeted with this huge mass of enormous vertical rocks expanding and rising into the night sky … they are standing silently reaching for the sky. They dominate the landscape and you gaze at their natural beauty. You stand still in awe of these gigantic rock formations. Then you look further into the sky and you see small stone ‘buildings’ perched on top of these enormous rocks high in the sky above you. Alone, quiet, in a sanctuary all of their own, on top of these rocks reaching towards the heavens
That is when you truly say, ‘wow’..

If you don’t know what is so fascinating about Meteora, here is a quick summary.

Poking abruptly out of the plains near Kamabaka are finger like projections of rock pointing skyward – much like the Warrambungles , the ‘ bread knife’ in Australia. In themselves impressive but add to their impact are the six remaining monasteries that have been built on TOP of some of these rocks. Not flattened as in moderns days of excavations, but moulded to the existing rocks.

Originally the caves in the side of the rocks were homes to hermits from the 10th century seeking solitude and contemplation. However, a monk in the 14th century encouraged them to band together and they created the first monastery. They also started to build monasteries on the tops of some of the rocks, up to 550m above the level of the plain below, with access only either by ladders or by rope hoists that could be retracted to give the occupants sanctuary from the world below.
With the invasions of the Ottomans ( turkey )at the end of the fourteenth century, they declined initially in eminence only to rise to their halcyon days in the late 1400s and and 1500s when these raised monasteries, supported by land donated by benefactors, protected the monks and provided hope to the people below.

Twenty monasteries were built but today only six remain. The all share the common feature that they are perched on seemingly inaccessible tops of high rocks. In fact..they are quite inaccessible to the human eye. It was hard for us viewing them to fathom that someone initially had to scale these rocks to start with and then building materials stone and rock , and provisions had to be hoisted up by rope and rope nets. Even pilgrims were raised up in this manner insecure in the knowledge that the ropes were only ever replaced when ‘God had the grace to allow one to break.’..as we were told.

They lived like this, using this entrance by net or by ladders of some sorts…including scaffolding and ropes for over 500 years. It was only in the 1920s that alternative access by means of steps hewn out of the rock or by high elevated bridges were built. Probably a mixed blessing since the monasteries were heavily sacked by the Germans during WW2 and thereafter fell into disrepair until major renovations in the 1960s and onwards.

Despite the renovations being ‘recent’, the effect is still very dramatic and surprisingly, in some of the monasteries such as Saint Nicholas Anapafsa, the internal frescos dating back to the 16th century have all been retained. Others feel more ‘modern’ but you cannot take away the aesthetic, and spiritual, effects of having these monasteries perched so incredibly on the top of these isolated pinnacles!

I can certainly understand why it is scribed as where the monasteries meet the sky. They truly do. .

For the geologically interested, or, more specifically, the climbers out there … The rock is conglomerate that has been weathered by wind and rain leaving some of the smaller rocks with oblique to horizontal carved out caves. The larger pinnacles have near vertical sides including areas of overhang. There are no hand or foot holds and the only conceivable climbing points are the occasional vertical crack and the the even rarer chimney. How these monks in the 1300s climbed some of these pinnacles in hard soled shoes/boots with no climbing gear beggars the imagination. I wonder how many fell to the deaths or to serious injury in their attempts to scale the more inaccessible ones in an attempt to that ideal spot to build a monastery? (Marc did start to climb one of the easier ones that lead up to some caves but I put stop to that one. With my injured ankle, if anything happened to marc we would be really stuck, not to mention that I would like him around for a few more years!!! )

The tour guides say that Meteora is great even in poor weather.
Well, today we had blue skies and sunshine after some initial overcast.

Travelling from our b & b the ten minutes to the first one, we remained in silent wonder and amazement at these rock structures and their monastery . The roads wind higher and higher to these formations and truly our photos that we took do not really envelope the immenseness of these combined natural and manmade structures.
The first day we stopped at St Nicholas Anapafsa Monastery first. This was the smallest monastery housing only one monk. This is perched on quite a narrow bit of rock so the entire monastery is built vertically in a very compact manner. No room is square having to conform to the shape of the rock. We started to climb the stairs and from the car park to the very top of the monastery was 228 steps….straight up.

The rule with visiting monasteries here is that you have to be covered ..men with long sleeved shirts and trousers and women with long skirts. At the entrance to each monastery they provide a wrap around skirt for woman…I did not see anything for the men. So draped in this skirt on top of my trousers underneath my long jacket…I entered the monastery. I looked so beautiful of course !!!
Oops we were entering a monastery ….vanity not allowed!!!

There is a viewing platform at the top of this structure with a bell tower complete with clarion. I have been itching to play something but it would have been irreverent. It was Sunday and there was a service going on when we arrived so we felt a little pressured by the monk’s helper (there is only one monk left in this monastery) so the next day we went back and enjoyed the little church with is 500year old paintings and the solitude of the rooftop views.( Marc thought it was worth the return visit and the 200+ stairs to go back. Lyndell’s ankle may say otherwise although she never complained once, well maybe softly once or twice.)

On our first day there we also saw the lift ….the monks do not use the stairs, that is only for the tourist, instead they use an electric winch to go and up and down. It reminded me of the telephone box that Dr Who uses for his travels, only it was silver . They were all silver. They could only fit one person at a time, so if you had a crowd to go out in one day, you would have to take your turn.
Interesting we net some Australian tourists at one of the other monasteries where the lift was on the road side and they thought they were to go across in this container to the abbey, they wee hugely disappointed when I pointed out the many steps and inclines down and many steps up access for tourists across the gorge from which where we had just come. I am not sure if they did the trip.

Disappointingly two monasteries were unexpectedly closed and the main one the great Meteora was closed for renovations. This was a shame as we also saw many tourist buses on the roads arrive only to find it closed . That would have been hard for those travellers who had paid to come to the monasteries for a limited amount of time in their travels. This particular monastery was the one always advertised.
For us, although it was a shame it still left the Monasteries of Varleem and Holy Trinity to visit. This still gave us the opportunity to climb even more steps , oh so so so many steps and all up…..and marvel along the way , that even these have only been there since the 1920s – before that the access was more harrowing.
As other tourists have written, the monasteries have been heavily renovated so they do not always feel that ‘old’ and nor can you explore very extensively in any since most of the area within each monastery is ‘private’ – however, for us, the experience of seeing and climbing up into the each monasteries is worth visiting even if to just try and imagine what it was like and visualise how they built each in the first place. We were fortunate that we timed it when there were not many tourist bus who had disgorged its contents. Doing it this way you can feel the peacefulness of being in such a place –

Yes, I have to admit, standing there , in basic silence , perched on the mountain top alone in the peace and serenity , you obtain a small understanding of what drove the monks to build their monasteries and to spend their time practicing their religion in these settings.

We continued our travels around the three opened monasteries and each one provided similar yet different aspects. Each had countess stairs to endure….although we did count them. Saint triad had 147 stairs after you had walked down from the slope until the door of the rocks …that was quite a walk. The pathway had been hewn out of the rock and you’ literally walked inside the rock for some of your pathway . Here again was limited access, to a nuns cell, to the church, the courtyard and then outside to the main platform with its view over Kampalaka, a very very long way down. It was here we saw how the monks use the lift here, this time it was a horizontal one like an enclosed bosun chair strung from the monastery across two valleys to the platform adjacent to the road. This was the nunnery, but we saw a monk leave the premises in this fashion. ..which gave us an insight to their access. But again…the nuns until the 1920’s used other means of entry .

Varleem monastery was the second largest one and we climbed157 Stairs to view this. Here Marc took a photo of me up the stairs,,,,,and you really cannot see me at all. From his photo point to my high position in the rock stairwell , it was so high!!! Of course I was panting and puffing as depicted clearly in one photograph !
Varleem held up to 10 monks….which was the total amount in both this one and the great meteoran one. Varleem seemed like a mini city , and more interesting. They had the old hospital open. He re in their church when you looked up from the centre point, the face of Jesus was painted looking down at where you were standing. Underneath your feet was the star of David’s. Here we also saw a music book displayed with ancient musical writing like I have never seen before. We thought it was Hebrew at first but realise after our travel to their museum, it was music.i was fascinated of course never seeing music like this before…it was for their singing…Chanting,
Here they still had their cargo net that they used to bring up rocks and provisions etc. you could also stand in the edge and see the trolley on rails which they lowered to the ground far below them. Of course with my fear of heights I did not stand anywhere near the edge..I let Marc take that photo.

( (When I have taken all these stairs straight up, I have always grasped the rocks side…the rail was too close to the earth below, it has been an interesting experience for me with my fear of heights,,,having to overcome this concept to take this journey,)

We were also fortunate to see from a distance the lift going across the valley from great metereon to the road. We assumed it was workers because of the restorations being completed , but it was intriguing watching this ‘cable car’ like winch go across the cavern gorge so far below it,

We decided to extend our stay and have the next day to explore some more. The second day was no longer blessed by blue skies but grey. Somehow this made the features of the mountains and their monasteries more stark rather than less. There were also less people around so we enjoyed just randomly stopping the car, walking a short distance or just sitting enjoying the views. Again it gave us more insight into the peace and haven of the place here.

Unfortunately no more monasteries were open but maybe this was just as well since we explored to the base of the ‘Prison Cave’ ( or at least as far as Lyndell felt like going into the prickly brush at its base) and found the little church at the base of the Sacred Rock – places the tourist buses do not pull up. The more we explored the more evidence we could find of the remains of the hermitages tucked into the little caves and ruins of some of the other monasteries that no longer exist. We were surprised that we had spent easily 2/3 of a day just mooching among the hills – of course, we did do the odd ‘exploratory walk’ courtesy of Marc’s interest in “I wonder what is down here?” But I found the little church that dates back to the 1400s when the Monk Nilo banded the ascetics together.
An easy afternoon and evening ready for our trip back to Athens tomorrow for our last three days here In Europe before heading back to our working reality.

I must mention here another toilet story. ( yes another one…)
On arrival at our lovely B and B , preparing for our stay, we read the welcome book in our room.
Written on the front page of information were the words…
” Please do not put toilet paper in the toilet”

Now ,tell me…would you like me to elaborate any further ???

(Oh what an interesting experience I have had re amenities these few weeks of travels,)

However, Meteora was definitely worth the climbing roads through the hills and valleys.
And both visuallly and ecumenically well worth the couple of days we have spent here.
Only Downside, Marc has caught a cold! He is not feeling too well at the moment!!

To finish our narrative of Meteora ….

Of course Marc had to find a track that he needed to explore. I mean what would a trip to Meteora be without a track to explore. I followed him down this track , actually I followed him ….hobbling behind, without my usual ” yes but…” but when it entered into overgrown brush and bristles I stopped!! He sensed even though he was walking well ahead of me that I did not want to go any further …must have been my body language or my dragging feet or just the fact that he knows me….????? I did not make a sound or gesture, he just instinctively knew for me was time to turn around. ( hmmm,We must be married!!)

BUT ….
I am sure I am going to place on Marc’s Epitaph when he leaves this world,.

” Do you know where you are going? ”
” No idea …but let’s find out ! “