{"id":1677,"date":"2014-07-27T21:36:04","date_gmt":"2014-07-28T01:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svetanyc.com\/?p=1677"},"modified":"2015-09-23T21:38:13","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T01:38:13","slug":"meteora-greece-july-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/192.168.2.119:1984\/svetanyc\/2014\/07\/meteora-greece-july-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Meteora, Greece. July 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 26, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last night D. and I drove from Delphi<\/a> to Kastraki so that we could start\u00a0our day at the Meteora<\/a> early in the morning. We stayed at the Doupiani House<\/a>, which was a nice and comfortable hotel with fantastic views of the surrounding mountains. Please don’t expect an extraordinary customer service and neither fast-speed internet, but if you’ve got a room with the view, who needs the internet?!<\/p>\n

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Meteora, which means “suspended in the air” is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the second largest and most important Greek Orthodox monastery complex in Greece, after Mount Athos<\/a>.\u00a0The mountains of Meteora became the place of refuge in the 9th century, when hermits and holy people\u00a0began to occupy the\u00a0fissures and hollows of the rock towers. However, the full monasteries weren’t established till about 11-12th century when hermit monks started living among the caves and cutouts in the rocks, high on the top of the cliffs. In the 14th century, Meteora’s inaccessibility\u00a0became an advantage for the Christian monks escaping the Turkish occupation after the fall of the Byzantine Empire. At that time, about 20 monasteries existed, perched on the top of the rock pillars like eagle nests, only 6 of them survived to present time (4 for men and 2 for women) with less than 10 monks living in each monastery.<\/p>\n

The earlier monasteries were reached only by climbing the removable ladders or nets, which were replaced “only when the Lord lets them break”. However, in the 1920s, steps were hewn into the rock, which made the monasteries accessible via path-walks or bridges. Since the 1960s till present time, Meteora is undergoing the remarkable renovation and building activities. I guess it facilitated the influx of tourists\u00a0to Meteora who, despite the “beach season” were virtually everywhere.<\/p>\n

The Holy Meteora Monasteries constitute a crossroads of faith, civilization and history, where God’s creation with human intervention, the magnificence of the natural scenery with the grandeur of architecture, the monastic expression with the history and culture, the self-denial and heroism with the national self-consciousness and sacrificial offering were united together in an excellent and unprecedented way. It is also, perhaps, one of the most esthetically beautiful places you would ever lay your eyes on; sadly, my camera wasn’t able to capture it, but my memory was!<\/p>\n

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You can take public transportation, hike via “monk paths” or drive the main sealed road surrounding the entire Meteora complex. We drove because it was the only way we could see all 6 monasteries in one day. Note, the opening hour is 9.00, but closing hours vary, from 16.00 till 17.45. The best days to visit are Saturday and Sunday, when all monasteries are open. Entrance fee is \u20ac3 per monastery. Most monasteries don’t allow photos\u00a0inside and please, dress properly – no shorts or short sleeves for men; no pants, shorts or short sleeves for women. For additional book recommendations, please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Meteora<\/a><\/p>\n

We started at 8.45 am and drove to the Moni Agiou Nikolaou, then to Agias Varvaras Rousanou, then to Moni Varlaam, to Megalou Meteorou, then to Agias Triados and finally to Agiou Stefanou. And even though it is very compact, the climbing and the sightseeing took most of the day. Important to mention that my fitbit<\/a> logged 108 flights of steps by the end of the day.<\/p>\n

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The Monastery of St. Nicholaos Anapafsas<\/a> <\/strong>(9.00-16.00, closed on Fridays; pictures aren’t allowed inside)\u00a0<\/strong>is situated just outside Kastraki village, it is the first monastery we met on our way to Meteora. All around it, we could see the ruins of other monasteries of Prodromos, Agia Moni and Pantokrator, as well as a small church of the Virgin Mary. The rock, where the monastery stands, is very small and narrow at the top. This influenced the whole architecture of the monastery, since it couldn’t grow wider, but only taller. Going up the first staircase, we saw the small chapel of St. Antony and the crypt where, in the past, were kept the codices and heirlooms of the monastery. The chapel is of great importance, because on its walls there are paintings dating to the 14th century which, consequently, was the date of the monastery’s construction. On the next floor, near a long corridor, stands the Katholikon<\/a>\u00a0of the monastery, the church of St. Nicholaos and on the last floor the old refectory decorated with paintings. Today, the renovated refectory is used as a grand reception room. On the same floor there is also the ossuary and a renovated in 1971 chapel of St. John the Baptist.<\/p>\n

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The origin of the name of the Monastery of\u00a0St. Nicholaos Anapafsas is not ascertained yet. It probably bears the name of one of its early founders at the beginning of the monastic life on this rock in the 14th century. Others connect the origin of the name Anapafsas with the verb “anapavomai” which means “I rest” and this way Anapafsas means a place for spiritual rest and refreshment. In any case, the official letter of the year 1392-1393, which is kept in the archive of the Great Meteoron Monastery, has a mentioning of the little chapel of St. Nicholaos which was likely the present monastery.<\/p>\n

The monastery was fully renovated during the first decade of the 16th century, when the present Katholikon was erected. It is a small almost square church, uneven and irregular due to the narrowness of the rock it is built on. It has a small cupola at the center of the roof which is dark without any windows, since another storey had to be built right above. In October 1527, according to the building inscription over the entrance of the narthex, the elegant Katholikon was painted by the famous Cretan painter Theophanis Strelitzas<\/a>, the so-called Bathas. It is his oldest known work and it depicts representations of full-bodied saints, enthroned Virgin Mary, miracles performed by Jesus Christ, the imposing, multi-figured depictions of the Second Coming, along with the representation of Adam in the garden of Eden where he names the birds and animals:”And Adam gave names to all the aminals and all the birds of the sky and every beast of the fields” (Gen 2.20) etc.<\/p>\n