This was one of my earliest views of these incredible pinnacles.
I was intrigued to visit this place because since the 11th century hermit monks had been building their monasteries way up these mountains. In the 14th century during the Byzantine Era, they increased the number and improved their security to protect them from the ongoing bloodshed. At one time there were 24 monasteries among these pinnacles.
Until you see these uplifted mountains, it is hard to believe that monks and nuns lived up there. They used removable ladders to protect themselves and at one monastery they had a hook and net where they will lift up the monks and supplies with a windlass.
I checked into the Meteora City Hostel and got some instructions on how to find the path up to the Moni Agais Triados Monastery. At the end of the road, I found a river rock walkway that would take me up to the top which was about a four mile hike with an ascent of over 1,000 ft. It took me about 3 hours with frequent rests in the shade on the way up and just one hour going down.
Along the way, I spotted these two turtles apparently trying to mate.
At the end of the path, I met up with a driveway where people with cars had parked to enter the monastery.
It was a twisty stairway that took me up and into the monastery where they had an entrance fee of 3 Euros. The views were stunning.
It was at this monastery where I saw the hook, netting and windlass they used to haul up monks and goods. No photos were allowed in the highly decorated sanctuary but I did get some photos of other icons and religious figures.
As I returned black storm clouds were blowing in which would be the forest rains during my travels since Croatia.
The hostel owners were disappointed that no rain fell but in the morning it was a cool 73 degrees which made it a more comfortable day for my second day of hiking among these pinnacles.
This area depends on tourists and it looks like several businesses have folded and the restaurants are fairly empty. The prices in the restaurants are lower than found on the Greek islands I visited and Athens as well.
On the second day, I took the morning bus up to two of the monasteries: Varaam and the Great Meteoron Metamorfosis.
Varaam had a long footbridge to cross before you climbed a series of steps to get to the Monastery.
The Great Meteoron Metamorfosis monastery also had a short Bridge and then lots of stair with a long tunnel dug out of the rocks and sandstone. This was the largest monastery in the area.
This monastery also had a windlass lift system and old pictures of a monk getting a lift.
It had a religious and a history museum that featured many lithographs of wars past and Greece’s contributions.
From there I walked down along the road to the next and last monastery I visited. After walking several minutes some French guys gave me a lift there.
To get to this one, I descended some wooden steps dug into the ground until I came to the clothing checkpoint where women if they wore pants or shorts would have to put on skirts or buy one to be modest when entering.
Again there was a wooden bridge that crossed the chasm to the small Roussanou Monastery run by nuns. They collected the 3 Euro entrance fee and ran the gift shop full of religious trinkets and homemade honey, jams, and syrups.
None of the monasteries allowed people to photograph the sanctuaries which were filled with religious paintings covering all of the walls and ceilings.
When I finished, I continued down some stairs to the roadway below and the way to the nearby village of Kastraki. Part way there I found a direct trail to Kastraki that would avoid the many road switchbacks.
From Kastraki I joined up with the road to Kalambaka and had lunch near the town square. My journey took me about 10 miles with a 1,000 ft descent and about 6 hours.
I finished off the day by having mousaka as the sun set on the pinnacles.
The following day I would take a 9 am bus to Delphi and maybe the oracle will provide me with a prophecy.
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