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To many, a trip to Greece is all about the ancient city of Athens and the countless beautiful islands in the Aegean Sea. But if you shift your gaze to central Greece, you’ll find one of the country’s most spellbinding destinations, Meteora. Hidden among the mountains of Thessaly, Meteora is both naturally and historically fascinating, thanks to its unique rock formations and monasteries.
The easiest way to get there is to land in Thessaloniki airport and then rent a car. This is by far the best option to enjoy the Meteore at the most.
Meteora is defined by a series of large rock pillars. These pillars give the area its name: “Meteora” roughly translates to “suspended in the air.” While some stand entirely on their own, others work with the ordinary hillside to form valleys, creating an unpredictable landscape.
What really makes Meteora special is that the cliffs of many of these rocks are home to Greek Orthodox monasteries from the Middle Ages. Built in such a remote place to avoid the invading Turks, the monasteries themselves seem “suspended in the air.”
There were once two dozen monasteries across Meteora, but only six remain active. These six monasteries, along with their monks and nuns, are what visitors come to see in Meteora.
You can stay in 2 places to enjoy t the most the area, : the town of Kalabaka and the neighboring village of Kastraki. They sit at opposite sides of the main monasteries of Meteora, so you can drive or walk from either. It’s only about 2 kilometers from the center of one to the other, so it’s also easy to get between the two towns.
This is how the Meteore look like on a map. There is no way you can lose yourself or miss one, it is one way route. You can take a tour or even rent bikes ( electric are better since they are very hilly) or a car.
From down the village , this is how they look like. Rock pillars, larger or smaller, with very straight slope.
   
Because of their structure, the hills are often used by climbers. It is possible to see in some places, inlets in the rock where climbers leave coloured rags as a symbol of their passage. These inlets are what remains of ancient structures carved into the rock.
  
The Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron
The Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron, located at Meteora-Greece, is the biggest and oldest one of all. It was called the monastery which remains “suspended in the air” (meteoro), because of the cliff formation of a gigantic rock on top of which it was built. The Great Meteoro Monastery or “Megalo Meteoron” was founded in the 14th century by Saint Athanasios the Meteorite.
   
The entrance is regulated by a gate, but in old days there was just a movable bridge that can be removed from the inside.
   
   
   
The six active Meteora monasteries create a truly inspiring and sensational setting of overwhelming rock formations with these ancient monuments occupying their picks. In essence, Meteora today has become a preservation ark for the 2000-year-old Christian Orthodox creed. Today, out of initially 24 monasteries that used to exist, only 6 remain active for people to visit.
Check the map to have a better idea of where the 6 active monasteries of Meteora are located. Out of those 6 active monasteries, 2 of them (Agios Stefanos & Roussanou) are convents with nuns and the rest 4 are male monasteries with monks. In total, today there are approximately 50 nuns and 17 monks still living in the active monasteries of Meteora.
   
  
Meterore are also famous for hiking and climbing.
The best and safest option is to join a guided tour that will allow you the explore the Meterore from another point of view.
   
 
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