1. Enjoy mesmerizing sceneries away from the beaten tourist paths

There are times especially during the high season when the parking lots outside of monasteries are filled with cars, buses and big crowds. Leave your car behind and get away from the noisy masses to discover the peace, the quiet and the beautiful trails in the hidden side of Meteora. Walk among the giant cliffs in what many describe as a “forest of rock pillars”. The hike ’s quite easy, with a total length of 6km, most of it under shade that makes it suitable for all ages. The hike has an elevation difference from start to the end of roughly 250 meters.

2. Have the chance to visit Ypapanti, a hidden monastery of Meteora

One of the best reasons as to why to join the hiking tour is the chance to visit the monastery of Ypapanti. The monastery ranks among the oldest monasteries of Meteora and was recently renovated. It remains open during the high season for visitors, between May and October 10:00 to 14:00. It’s a truly hidden gem of our place, and it’s accessible only on foot! Not to mention that you don’t have to pay an entrance fee…

3. See and experience things you won’t otherwise

There are many viewpoints and spots you can reach by car, but there are so much more to see if you decide to walk! We always advise people who wish to visit Meteora that the best way to experience this awesome site is by walking. Take the chance to discover many hidden gems and viewpoints accessible only on foot nobody except the locals know.

4. Learn about the flora and fauna of the area

Did you know that Greece’s indigenous plants are about 6,600, and it is estimated that they make up for 50% of the entire European Union? For example, in the UK there are only 800 species thriving. Greece is actually third in worldwide rankings, in terms of endemic plants, when taking into account her geographical size. About 1,600 out of the 6,600 are aromatic and medicinal plants. The region of Meteora ranks among the richest places around Greece in terms of indigenous plants and rare herbs

5. Test Einstein’s theory of relativity

The pace of our everyday life worldwide probably is best described in two words: fast and furious! With the hiking tour, you’ll have the chance to hit the brakes and lower gears. Whenever you choose to walk you take your time to do and experience things. Everything around seems to slow down, even time itself so, you’ll have the chance to enjoy yourself much more. To paraphrase Einstein’s theory of relativity the experiences of things you observe and absorb are always relative to the speed you move through space and time.

6. Have the chance to make the most amazing pictures

If you like to visit a place and make the best pictures ever this tour is definitely the best for you. The site of Meteora ranks among the best photogenic sites around the world and if you combine your visit with the hiking tour rest assure that you’ve made the best combo to ensure that you are going to have the most spectacular pictures ever!

7. Make new friends 

One of the best tours to make friends along the way is by joining the hiking tour of Meteora. The small size groups and the slow pace makes it ideal to meet interesting people from all over the world. We ‘ve seen time and again people who join this particular tour to become friends with one another, sharing pictures, or having a drink together at the end. We’ ve even seen a marriage proposition taking place on the tour, so, be prepared for everything!

8. Discover the ancient trails of the monks

The roads within the site are a relatively new addition compared to the centuries-old monasteries. The modern network of roads people use today were made in 1948. Before that year and for the previous 7 centuries the monks, the pilgrims and the locals they had to use a dense network of trails part of which survived to this day. These are the same trails the guides will lead through in this activity.

9. Keep fit and have fun

Greek food is simply delicious! We know it’s not always easy to resist such a huge temptation. If you had tones of pitta gyros with tzatziki the previous night and you are now thousands of miles away from your gym, keep calm and have fun! This tour will be your chance to redeem yourself!

10. Listen to the local legends and stories from our exceptional guides

Our guides are all local young people who grew up in the area so, they know everything like the back of their heads! They are all passionate for their work and particularly of the site, they call home! They didn’t just learn the history to tell the visitors, they grew up with all the local legends as their bedtime stories. And these stories played an important role of who they are today!

The post 10 Good reasons to join the Hiking tour of Meteora appeared first on Visit Meteora.

If you don’t have a clue about the Orthodox Church or its monastic tradition, below you can find some key facts and answers (A) to questions (Q) about the monastic life within the Orthodox Christianity.

So, let’s begin…

The monastery of Varlaam on the left and the monastery of Roussanou to the right

(Q): What is the Orthodox Church?

(A): The Eastern Orthodox Church, also known as the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian Church, with over 250 million members. Some will even address this church as the historical church because the succession of its bishops goes all the way back to the Apostles. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern Europe, and the Near East, including Slav and Greek peoples. Eastern Orthodoxy developed in the Greek-speaking Eastern part of the Roman Empire, what is known today by the name of Byzantine Empire. During the first centuries AD, most major intellectual, cultural, and social developments in the Great Christian Church took place within the sphere of influence of the Byzantine commonwealth, where the Greek language was widely spoken and used for theological writings. In reference to this legacy, it was sometimes called “Greek Orthodox”.

Greek Orthodox priest performing the Sunday mass in the village of Kastraki

(Q): What is Christian monasticism?

(A): Christian monasticism is the devotional practice of individuals who live ascetic and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship. It began to develop very early in the history of the Christian Church, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament, but not mandated as an institution in the scriptures. It has come to be regulated by religious rules and, in modern times, the Canon law of the respective Christian denominations that have forms of monastic living. Those living the monastic life are known by the generic terms monks (men) and nuns (women). The word monk originated from the Greek monachos “monk”, itself from monos meaning “alone”. There are monasteries for men (monks) or monasteries for women (nuns) solely. So, the Christian monks and the nuns they’ll never mix to live together within each monastery.

(Q): Can the monks or the nuns make families? Can they marry?

(A): The answer to that is simply No! Christian Orthodox monks and nuns will remain without wives or husbands for the rest of their lives. The Orthodox priests though they can make families if they find a wife before they’ll become priests.

The monks of the Orthodox church they work hard everyday and dress in black robes

(Q): Are there many different types of monasticism?

(A): Within the Orthodox monasticism there are no religious orders as in the West and the Roman Catholic Church, so there are no formal Monastic Rules rather, each monk and nun is encouraged to read all of the Holy Fathers and emulate their virtues. Within the Eastern Orthodox Church, exist three types of monasticism: eremitic, cenobitic, and the skete. The eremitic or the so-called hermit-like (Greek word eremos; meaning the dessert) is a name derived from the first Dessert Fathers who withdraw from society to live in isolation in the deserts of Egypt during the 3rd century AD. The first recorder Dessert Father was St. Antony from Egypt. The skete is a very small community, often of two or three, under the direction of an Elder. They pray privately for most of the week, then come together on Sundays and Feast Days for communal prayer, thus combining aspects of both eremitic and coenobitic monasticism. The cenobitic or community-based monastic life, where the monks or the nuns live in individual rooms or cells but work, eat, and worship in shared space within a well-organized compound called the monastery.

In this Byzantine fresco, one can see many of the different types of monasticism during the first centuries of Christianity

(Q): What types of monasticism exist in Meteora?

(A): Interestingly enough here at Meteora and for the past 1000 years all 3 types of monastic life mentioned above were present here. Today we have monks and nuns who practice still the cenobitic and skete types. At a place called by the locals Badovas, hidden between the giant rocks one can still see the evidence of these 3 types coexisting in the ruins of the last hermit, the skete of St. Antony and the small monastery of St. Nikolas of Badovas.

The skete of Agios Grigorios and of Agios Antonios in the place called Badovas

(Q): How the monks earn their living?

(A): The monks and the nuns even to this day they’ll have to work hard to earn their living. Hard labor is still an integral part of the monastic way of life. The brotherhoods in each monastery they’ll all have to share the workload among them and each monk will contribute according to his skills to produce goods they need or to sell and to maintain the monastery’s property. The monastery will have to become self-sufficient as much as possible. Another important source of income is donations they’ll receive from pilgrims. Pilgrims donate money, goods, and services, property, all sorts of things that monks need to support their lives in the monasteries. A lot of the monasteries after centuries of receiving donations of land have become today among the bigger landowners. During the past, the exploitation of the monastic land or any other property they posed constituted one of the main sources of income for the monks. The monks are unable to sell any of the monastic property, but they can financially exploit it through other means like for example to lease it for a specific period. The main source of income for the monasteries of Meteora today are the 3 euros entrance fees visitors pay on the entrances of monasteries.

The monasteries of Meteora are filled with treasures of Byzantine art

(Q): What is the main difference between the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox church?

(A): The 2 churches used to be the one single Catholic Church, but in the year 1054 AD amid growing disputes and differences accumulating for centuries between them the “Great Schism” takes place. The biggest and most fundamental difference though of the 2 churches is a cultural difference that permeated the Roman empire since the beginning of Christianity. In the Western part of the Roman world, the dominant language and culture were Latin, while in the East people endorsed mostly the Greek language and culture. This cultural difference became even more apparent during the Dark Ages and the isolation of the West from the Greek-speaking world in the East that followed. Centuries of divergence and development of the two Christian regions under totally different conditions eventually led to the “Great Schism” of Christianity in 1054 AD and the formation of the Roman Catholic Church under the rule of Pope in the West, and the Greek Orthodox in the East. To this day the Greek Orthodox Church doesn’t recognize the Pope as the supreme leader of Christianity and perceives the Roman Catholic church as a schismatic church.

The post Meteora and the Eastern Christian monastic tradition appeared first on Visit Meteora.

Map of Greece with all the prefectures

Generally speaking, the process of finding the correct bus to travel in Greece it’s a very complicated thing indeed, mainly because of the way the bus companies formed in the past and how they operate today. In order to better understand Greek busses and how they work, we need first to briefly explain the past and present situation of bus companies in Greece. For many decades, Greek state severely lacked modern infrastructure on highways and railways, thus many places around Greece were fairly isolated. This made any journey by car long and difficult. A truly Odyssey of its own! So, the Greek state in order to overcome this problem decided to form what is known today as KTEL bus companies. The state sold public bus licenses to individuals who then bought busses in order to be eligible to join the KTEL company of their prefecture. The bus owners and the KTEL companies that formed enjoy to this day the monopoly for intercity public bus services around Greece and in exchange they are obliged by law to connect with shuttle services every village and settlement, irrelevant how small or remote might be within the boundaries of their prefecture.

This monopoly KTEL companies enjoy is an indirect way of the Greek state to subsidize them to provide public transportation to commercially unviable routes. Although every KTEL company can freely choose to connect via bus services every other place around Greece, they can only transfer people up to the main bus terminals of those prefectures, located always on the provincial capitals. When someone wants to travel to a different place other than the main city within this prefecture, he has to use the local KTEL company and switch busses. Usually, KTEL companies when operating outside of the prefecture’s boundaries, they only do the commercially viable route. This means that although bus companies operate a very dense network of bus routes within each prefecture, it’s quite difficult to find direct connections between distant places of different prefectures around Greece. The exception to this is the bigger population centers like Athens or Thessaloniki. The end result of such practices is that those travelers who opt public buses as their mean of transportation in most cases will have to switch many busses. Having said all these one must consider the bus option in just 3 cases listed below:

1. When you want to travel from either Athens or Thessaloniki to any other place around Greece and vice-versa 
2. When you wish to travel from point A to point B within the boundaries of a specific prefecture
3. When you have no other option left

Note that all public buses belonging to KTEL companies are painted olive green having also white stripes in some cases.

Typical color of a KTEL interscity bus

Each KTEL bus company regularly connects the provincial capital, in which its based and the biggest cities of Greece like Athens or Thessaloniki, but there is no guarantee that they’ll connect all the other different prefectures around Greece. In case you can’t find a direct bus connection you must reach either Athens or Thessaloniki and from the there it’s guaranteed that you will find the bus you wish since all KTEL companies they connect those 2 destinations. For example, if you wish to travel from Kalambaka-Meteora to Sparta, located in southern Peloponnese, there is no direct bus connection between those two places. You must first choose KTEL Trikalon bus company to travel from Meteora (Meteora is located in the prefecture of Trikala) to Athens. From Athens, you’ll have to continue to Sparta by booking with KTEL Lakonias bus company.

Please Note here that there are two bus terminals in Athens: One called Liosion Bus Terminal, for all KTEL companies located and operating north of Athens and a second one called Kifissou Bus Terminal for the KTEL bus companies operating south of Athens, mainly involving Peloponnese. All KTEL bus companies of Greece will either start from there or they’ll end their trips to those two bus terminals of Athens. So, in case of the above example when one arrives at Liossion Bus Terminal arriving from the north and wants to continue traveling by bus to Sparta which is south Peloponnese will have to reach Kifissou Bus Terminal to continue the bus trip.

Thessaloniki’s central bus station

So, if we break the whole process on how to book the correct bus from point A to point B we have the following steps:

STEP 1: Identify correctly the prefecture on the map from where you intend to start your trip and the prefecture of your final destination. Find the proper Greek names of the prefectures. The public bus companies are always identified by two words: “KTEL” in front and the “name” of the prefecture they are based.

STEP 2: Go to the list we provide below with all the KTEL bus companies around Greece and the links we give to check the bus schedules. Choose the link with the KTEL bus company of the prefecture you intend to travel and make sure that there is a direct bus connection between destinations.

STEP 3: If there is a direct connection then you can proceed by booking your seats via the online booking system if provided on the site. Please note that many bus companies they don’t have an online booking system. In this case, you’ll have to buy the tickets on the spot or you can politely ask hotels receptions or someone to help you reserve the bus seats. In most cases, you can reserve your seats via phone if you speak Greek.

STEP 4: If you don’t find a direct bus connection then… Houston we’ve got a problem! Now, don’t be disapointed. This doesn’t mean that there is no solution. It only means that the trip might take a bit longer. Check the next step…

STEP 5: In the above case, all KTEL bus companies connect Athens or Thessaloniki on a regular basis. So, identify the closest place on the way to those two cities to get off the bus to catch another KTEL company. One such example is when you travel from Trikala to Delphi. You must catch the bus from Trikala to Athens and get down at Lamia. From Lamia and its “KTEL Fthiotidos” take the bus to Amfissa, and then switch bus company again to “KTEL Fokidas” to reach Delphi.

Below we have the entire list with links of KTEL bus companies around Greece

Some of them they don’t have a website, so you’ll only find the phone numbers and some that do have a website they don’t have it in English

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Visit Meteora Team

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In Part 1 we discussed the connection of the Byzantine church in Kalambaka with the local mythology, the ancient religion and the general historical context in which the Knights Templars left evidence of their presence here at Meteora. In this part, we’ll present exclusively and for the first-time actual evidence of what appears to be Templar symbols in the Byzantine church of Kalambaka. One of the least places around the world you would expect to find Templar symbols and yet they are there, hidden in plain sight under the shadow of the giant Meteora rocks. With this post, we’ll attempt to decipher their hidden meaning and symbolism so, buckle up and prepare to dive into the fringes of hidden history and the mystery.

The Byzantine church of the Dormition of Virgin Mary in Kalambaka today

Starting from the outside of the Byzantine church, located on the south wall are few carved marble stones that appear to belong to the ancient period. That by itself it’s not unusual for the Dark Ages, the period when the church undergoes extensive restorations. Because people at that time they were used to recycling marble stones from ruined ancient buildings that they’ll find on the building site or nearby. There are numerous Byzantine monuments spread all over Greece with such ancient marbles embedded on their walls. The ones placed on the church at first glance appear to be randomly arranged, but that’s deceptive the least. For someone who lacks any prior knowledge to Templar symbology, it’s very easy to walk away without ever recognizing their true meaning. But that was probably the intention of the church builders; to hide everything in plain sight. Only those who are initiated into the Templar secret code and its symbolic language would be able to recognize them immediately. On the southwest corner of the church’s outside wall, we see two triangular marble stones immediately standing out. The one on the left has the carving of two opposing snakes, while on the other side is the sun god, also known as god ‘Helios’ by ancient Greeks.

The southwest corner of the Byzantine church with the marble stones and the sealed door

If one takes a closer look of the stone with the two snakes it becomes evident that there are no visible snakeheads carved on the upper part. The heads of the snakes one would expect to find on the upper part of the relief are either missing or degraded completely. So, the snake carvings are headless and oddly enough this upper section seems quite disproportional to the rest of the snake’s bodies. To us, this would imply possibly a re-carving of this part taking place for whatever purpose at a later time. Then, we started searching for similar ancient carvings that would have the same motive in order to make a correlation if possible. We found nothing to make a reasonable match of similar style reliefs, but one exception: a mythical figure named Abraxas!

A closer view of god Helios carving

Abraxas is an Egyptian Sun God adopted by the early Christian Gnostic’s. Abraxas was no ordinary god, however, as a ruler of the ‘first Heaven’, he had dominion over the cycles of birth, death and Resurrection. The name Abraxas had also a mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides; as the name of the “Great Archon”, the supreme ruler of all creation. This Gnostic system of Basilides (Basilides was an early Christian Gnostic religious teacher in Alexandria, Egypt who taught from 117 to 138 AD) it became quite popular and spread from Egypt to the rest of the Roman world, at a period when Christianity was not yet canonized by the Church. The name Abraxas is found in Gnostic texts such as the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, appearing also in the Greek Magical Papyri. It was engraved on certain antique gemstones, called Abraxas stones, which were used as amulets or charms, as seen in the picture.

Templar crosses found inside of the church, carved with intricate Celtic style knots around them

The first form of the word comes to us from that period and the 2^nd century AD with the words Abrac, or Abracar; a name which Basilides, had given to God, who he said was the creator of three hundred and sixty-five heavenly realms. In the system of Basilides, the 7 letters spelling Abraxas, and 7 stars often found on Gnostic gems represent each of the 7 classic planets—Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. There some who speculate that the words “abracadabra” we used as magic words when we were kids originate from the name Abraxas. He’s always represented having the torso of a man, the head of a chicken or other animal heads and for feet he has two snakes. He is always associated with… well, guess who: the sun disc, or Helios as seen in the picture below. The latter was mind-blowing because to the right of the church’s headless snakes we find the relief of god Helios, the sun-god of ancient Greece. Now interestingly enough guess who else was using the depiction of Abraxas as one of their official seals: The Knights Templars of course!

On the left are different Templar seals while on the left we see depictions of Abraxas. Notice that the first Templar seal on the upper left is Abraxas with seven stars.

As seen in the picture on the left, Abraxas was among the official seals’ Templars used. In between the two triangular reliefs, there is a door sealed by bricks and stones. The sealed door, judging from the looks of it and the way how was constructed, it’s highly probable that never intended to serve as a functional door. It was rather made to look that way right from the start. The lack of a functional arch above and from the arrangement of the stones around or the absence of any visible door casing tells us that most likely the “door” was made and sealed off when the rest of the wall was constructed. Thus, it never served as a functional door as many locals believe, neither is older than the rest of the church’s south wall. We believe it was by stonemasons design to look in that way. It’s not coincidentally placed there either and in relation to the rest of the reliefs around it possesses a deep alchemical meaning. Such alchemical doorways always represent a secret passage, a gateway to other realms. It also represents secret knowledge safely placed and guarded behind the sealed door.

The bridge of Khazad-Dum, in the Dwarven underground kingdom of Moria where Gandalf had to face a Balrog, the ancient demon of fire from the deep, in Tolkiens’ LOTR.  

We won’t attempt to “wide open” that gate in this post because the Rabbit’s Hole in this one goes too deep and too dark for the taste of average readers. One may notice though the similarities between the Church’s sealed door and the Royal Arch of the Freemasons; Or the Moria’s magic gate of Durin, Tolkien described in his book “The Fellowship of the Ring” in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy he wrote. The gate of Durin in Tolkien’s book was the only passage to the subterranean dwarven kingdom of Moria and the Great city of Khazad-Dum. Moria, in Tolkien’s LOTR, was inhabited by the Balrog, a demon of fire of the Ancient World. In part 1 we made a brief comment about a persistent local belief of underground chambers existing in the church and alleged tunnels connecting the church with the citadel of ancient Trikki, Asclepius city! Not many people know there is a very important place in the world that has a similar name to Tolkien’s Moria: Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. It’s the Temple Mount, the site in Jerusalem where King Solomon made his Temple. The very same place where Knight Templars went upon their arrival in Jerusalem and settle down to start excavations of Solomon’s Temple. The order itself was named as Templars because of Solomon’s Temple. Persisted rumors mention to this day that Templars hidden goal was to search for secret underground chambers laying beneath the ruined Temple. Interestingly enough in Ezekiel’s vision in which the Lord took him to into the future and showed him how the Temple on Mount Moriah would be, we find this interesting reference of a hidden doorway he sees on the Temple’s wall:

“Then said he unto me, “Son of man, dig now in the wall”, and when I had dug in the wall, behold a doorway. And he said unto me, “Go in and behold the wicked abominations that they do here”. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the walls round about…”                                                         

Ezekiel 8

 In the picture showing all three different types of “magic” doors, a common denomination of all three are the seven stars seen on the upper part totally missing from the church’s door, or maybe not? If our hypothesis about the snakes’ relief being the lower part of Abraxas figure is correct, and although the seven stars are not actually depicted there, one can assume that the stars are not entirely absent either since the seven stars always accompany Abraxas figure. If the upper missing part of the snakes’ relief is indeed Abraxas figure as we believe, then the seven stars are also present by definition! This is clearly visible in the Templar seal of Abraxas that depicts him having the seven stars around him.

From left to right the first door is the Alchemical door, the second in the Tolkiens’ Moriah door and the third one is the Royal Arch of the Freemasons

But as we said earlier the Rabbit’s Hole in this one goes too deep, so, for the time being, we’re not going to touch it any further. On the lower left of the sealed door, there is yet another marble stone, an embedded half drum taken from an ancient pillar. If our hypothesis about the rest of the symbols is correct, then it’s very likely that the half drum might represent the moon, thus again connecting to Abraxas and the rest of the symbols, since Abraxas he’s always associated with the sun and the moon.

The lady and the child relief and beneath is the “flower of life”

On the far right of the wall, towards the eastern side of the church we see the relief of a lady and a child and right beneath them lay a six-petal flower. The official explanation of the mentioned carvings is that the lady and the child probably is a depiction of the goddess ‘Estia’ from the Roman period, while the flower is mentioned to be a sacred symbol without much further explanation attached to it. The relief depicting the lady and the child definitely relates to the flower-carving beneath. The 6-petal flower depicts the ‘Egg of Life’ in sacred geometry. The shape of the Egg of Life is made up of 7 circles cutting into each other and referred to as the geometrical framework for the whole of creation. The shape of this ‘Egg of Life’ succeeds the “Seed of Life” as seen in the picture.

The flower of Life and the Egg as represented in sacred geometry

So, what we see in fact in this part of the wall is the feminine aspect of creation; the Egg and fertility, birth, Life and death. Death itself is represented by the Roman epitaphic stone placed beneath the lady and the child. So, in the southwest corner, we find the relief of the snakes potentially showing Abraxas and god Helios representing both the masculine force, while on the opposite southeast corner we see the feminine aspect of creation through the reliefs of the lady and the child and the “Egg of Life” beneath them. The duality within creation and the two pillars, one of the most favorable themes in Templar mystical tradition. And in between stands the sealed gate, a closed doorway to other realms and knowledge. Why the Templars marked this particular church? No one knows for sure today. Meteora above anything else it’s a place filled with spiritual energy. Something that all visitors experience, a powerful sense of an awe-inspiring feeling. It’s not coincidental that the monks and the hermit-monks before them all came to here to pray and to connect with the divine. They felt it too, and so did the ancients. The Templars were no exception to that and for whatever hidden agenda they might have, they decided to mark the Byzantine church!

Instead of an epilogue

We’ve tried so far to decipher the hidden meaning behind the marbles embedded on the south wall of the Byzantine church. We are going to leave the rest of things for you to discover and decode on your own; the more obvious Templar symbols inside of the church. It will be up to you to discover this fascinating monument in the old part of Kalambaka’s town if you ever visit Meteora. For the end and instead of an epilogue we’ll provide you with a few more tantalizing historical facts relating to the final days of the Templars, the Byzantine Empire, and the church.

Roger de Flor (1267 – 30 April 1305), also known as Ruggero/Ruggiero da Fiore or Rutger von Blum or Ruggero Flores, was an Italian military adventurer and condottiere active in Aragonese Sicily, Italy and the Byzantine Empire. He was the commander of the Great Catalan Company and held the title Count of Malta. At eight years old Roger de Flor was sent to sea in a galley belonging to the Knights Templars. He entered the order and became captain of a galley. After rescuing wealthy survivors during the siege of Acre by the Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil in 1291, he went to Cyprus. Following some intrigues and personal disputes, he was accused by the rest of the Templars of robbery and he was denounced by the pope as a thief and an apostate. This resulted in his relegation from the order.

During the same period, emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus of the Byzantine Empire was facing siege by the Ottoman Turks, an Islamic tribe approaching the capital of his empire after defeating his armies and ransacking most of his domains. Looking for assistance from the European kingdoms he made Roger an offer of service along with the Almogavar army under his command. In September 1302 Roger with his fleet and army, now known as the Catalan Company, 6,500 strong, arrived at Constantinople. He was adopted into the imperial family by marring to the emperor’s niece Maria Asenina (daughter of Ivan Asen III of Bulgaria) and was made grand duke (Megas doux) and commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army and the fleet. He was able to successfully engage the Ottoman Turks in many occasions but in April of 1305, and after serving his own personal interests he was assassinated in Adrianople (modern Edirne in East Thrace) by Andronicus’ son Michael. The Company of mercenaries avenged itself, plundering everything on their path, from Thrace to Macedonia and Thessaly in what has been called the “Catalan Vengeance”. The plundering of the Catalans in Greece was so devastating that in Thessaly even up to the last Century, the expression “you are a Catalan” was considered as an insult.

Roger de Flor (1267 – 30 April 1305)

A few decades later Emperor Andronicus III, the son of Michael and grandson of Andronicus II, in 1333 he manages to briefly put Thessaly under his control and in 1336 he visited the Byzantine church in Kalambaka (known at the time as Stagi). Inside of the church, lays an imperial inscription located on the north wall, a letter of Andronicus III to the local bishop in which he validates the boundaries of his bishopric. Was Andronicus visit of the church a coincidental one or not? Why he had to write this imperial letter to the local bishop, who was a figure of no political importance compared to other parts of Thessaly? Is it unreasonable to assume that the local bishop received the privileges from the emperor in exchange of a favor he did to him? Did Roger de Flor accidentally reveal something he didn’t suppose to; something of great importance he had learned as a member of the Templars, resulting in his murder by the father of Andronicus III Michael back in 1305?  Those are all interesting connections and questions one may ask but it’s almost certain that historical research will never prove anything. So, the mystery remains to this day. Few years after Andronicus visit, in 1340 a monk named Athanasios, who had also arrived in the area at around the same time with Andronicus back in 1336, he successfully establishes the first monastery of Meteora, the Holy Monastery of Transfiguration, the monastery known today as Great Meteoron. Athanasios eventually became the founder of the 7-centuries old monastic community of Meteora! He’s also the one who named the site by giving it the name Meteora. The word “meteoro” in the Greek language translates into the thing that remains suspended between the heavens and earth…

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In the old part of Kalambaka town, right beneath the giant cliffs of Meteora lies an elusive and relatively unknown monument. The locals know it as the Byzantine church. It’s the oldest standing monument of the entire Meteora region, with a truly fascinating story embedded on its walls, the stones, and marbles. In fact, it’s the living history of the place we grew up! Despite the fact that the church stands there for centuries, nobody so far has made any serious effort to piece together its fragmented history. Maybe because it’s well-concealed under the many veils of a distant long-forgotten age. Its story buried deep beneath the layers of numerous eons and the generations that came to pass. It’s a fascinating story to tell spanning for more than 25 centuries, it involves the mythological times and the ancient paganistic religion, sacred geometry, mystical symbols, and the mysterious order of knights’ Templars from middle-age Christianity. Even the modern period and the 2^nd WW are present there. Every different historical period coexists within a single monument, creating one of the most interesting sights of Meteora to visit. The old Byzantine church is dedicated today to the “Dormition of Virgin Mary” and still serves as an active church for the local people.

An older picture of the Byzantine church of Kalambaka (10th and 13th century)

The location where the church stands nowadays it’s being verified in the past by archaeologists that is in constant use as a religious site by the locals for thousands of years. According to a small guide booklet published by the local church one might purchase at the entrance, Greek archaeologists who visited the Byzantine monument during the ’60s, they found beneath its eastern side the buried foundations of a small ancient temple. Their estimate was that the buried foundations they uncover belonged to a small ancient temple dedicated to god Apollo. From pottery findings, they’ve dated Apollo’s temple from around 4^th century BC. A period in which the town of Kalabaka was known by the name “Aiginion”. It’s interesting to note here that at a much older period back in the 12^th century BC, Homer in his famous epic the “Iliad”, he wrote for the Trojan War he placed there the first historical reference of the place. In a catalog he gave in the epic he mentioned the names of cities, the names of the Kings and the number of ships of all those who participated in the Trojan War. A nearby city to Meteora, the city of Trikki (modern-day Trikala 20km south of Meteora) and its King Asclepius was mentioned taking part in that great war. Asclepius, according to Greek mythology was a demi-god. He was the son of god Apollo, either by Coronis, daughter of Phlegyas or by Arsinoe. Phlegyas was the mythical King of Lapiths, an ancient Thessalian tribe of fierce warriors we’ve discussed many times in previous blog posts.

Asclepius and his rod with the snake, the modern symbol of medicine.

Apollo after the birth of Asclepius carried his son as a baby to the centaur Chiron who raised Asclepius and instructed him in the art of medicine. It is said that in return for some kindness rendered by Asclepius, a snake licked Asclepius’s ears clean and taught him secret knowledge (for ancient Greeks snakes were sacred beings of wisdom, healing, and resurrection). So, Asclepius, he is always depicted as a statue to support himself on a rod wreathed with a snake. It’s known also as the “Asclepius Rod”. This rod wreathed with snakes it became our modern symbol of medicine we now use worldwide and the origins of it trace back to Asclepius. Eventually, the king of Trikki was able to surpass in his medical skills both his teacher Chiron and his father Apollo. In fact, he became so proficient as a healer that according to the myth he was able to raise people from near death situations or even from the actual death itself, thus ending up upsetting the gods. Zeus had to kill Asclepius with his thunderbolts not to allow him to disturb any further the balance between the mortals and the immortal gods.

A strange marble stone carving from the ancient period embedded on the south wall of the Byzantine church depicting what appears to be 2 snakes

With all that in mind, it’s not a coincidence that the ancient people of Meteora decided to raise an Apollo temple in the vicinity of the place where Asclepius lived and ruled. Apollo, apart from being the god of prophecy, of music and poetry, the god of light and a healer, he was also known as the patron of herdsmen and protector of herds and flocks. The locals in the ancient period, even up until the present day they kept tens of thousands of sheep and goats. So, there are many reasons why the locals would prefer Apollo over other Olympian gods. Even to this day many locals in their oral tradition they believe that the Byzantine church is connected through underground tunnels to the ancient citadel of Trikki (Trikala) where King Asclepius ruled according to myth.

There is yet another interesting connection of Asclepios rod with the snake, and Christianity worth mentioning. In the biblical story of Israelites following their Exodus from Egypt, they set out from Mount Hor, where Aaron was buried, to go to the Red Sea. However, they had to detour around the land of Edom (Numbers 20:21, 25). Frustrated and impatient, they started complaining against God and Moses (Num. 21:4-5), and in response, God sent “fiery serpents” among them. For the sake of the ones who were repentant, Moses was instructed by God to erect a “serpent of bronze” which was used to heal those who looked upon it (Numbers 21:4-9).

Moses and the Brazen Serpent in the desert

Nehushtan (or Nohestan) is the derogatory name given to the bronze serpent on a pole first described in the Book of Numbers. At a much later period, in the Gospel of John, Jesus discusses his destiny with Nicodemus, a Jewish teacher and makes a comparison between the raising up of the Son of Man and the act of the serpent being raised by Moses for the healing of the people. Jesus applied it as a foreshadowing event to his own execution on a stake stating:

“And as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:14-16).

I would imagine that the associates of St. Paul who preached Christianity according to ancient sources in Trikki on the way from Thessaloniki to Athens, they probably couldn’t have dreamed a better way to start their preachment by citing the above serpent connection. Christianity spread like a wildfire within the Roman world over the first 3 centuries and that despite the ‘great persecution’ Roman authorities unleashed against it. In 313 AD, Constantine the Great becomes the first Roman emperor to declare religious tolerance for Christianity. Now, for the first time, the Christians of Meteora enjoyed the freedom to build a church for worship. So, they immediately decided to take down the old Apollo temple and on the foundations of it, they raised an early Christian church.  The Byzantine church of Kalambaka undergoes at least 3 to 4 major restorations and repairs over the centuries. The most important ones take place between the 1o^th and the 13^th centuries.

The pilgrimage routes from Europe to Jerusalem and the location of the Byzantine church in relation to them

Most of the monument as we see it today belongs to that period, hence the road signs leading to it which write “11th-century Byzantine church”. This particular period when the church was restored it coincides with the pick of the Byzantine empire, the crusades and the rise of the Templars. During that turbulent period, pilgrims from all over Europe would make the difficult journey to the Holy lands and Jerusalem. The Christian pilgrims would require protection along the way and the Knights Templars order stepped in to offer exactly that. The order, which was among the wealthiest and most powerful, became a favored charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in membership and power. They were prominent in Christian finance. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the order, who formed as much as 90% of the order’s members, managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, developing innovative financial techniques that were an early form of banking, building its own network of nearly 1,000 commanderies  and fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land, and arguably forming the world’s first multinational corporation. One way the Templars protected the pilgrims was not to allow them to carry with them big amounts of money or other valuables to pay for their expenses along the way. The biggest threat pilgrims had to face on the way to Jerusalem were the bandits roaming the countryside who would rob and kill them on the spot. So, instead of having to carry money with them, Templars offered pilgrims the choice to safely deposit to them all their gold and valuables before they start the pilgrimage.

The Knight Templars, the mysterious order of warrior monks of Christianity fighting the Saracens.

In return, Templars would issue to them a paper check with the deposited amount, for the holder of that check to be able to collect along the way the total or a fraction of the amount if needed. With this very clever system of banking, an early version of an international transactional/clearance system Templars introduced from one hand made the pilgrims a far less desirable target for bandits, since they didn’t have to carry a lot of money on them and on the other, Templars became one of the wealthiest institutions in the West. For such an international banking corporation to truly work they had to establish along the pilgrimage routes depositories or treasuries from where they would be able to withdraw gold or silver and “feed” efficiently the “cash” needs of the pilgrims. The Byzantine church in Kalambaka with its excellent position very likely played such role of a secret safe place to hide their stash of gold. It’s also possible that a renovation of the church was funded by the Templars, probably the one around the 13^th century. It’s well documented that all the buildings used by the Knights Templars were marked with sacred symbols and secret codes they used. The Byzantine church is no exception to that and it’s filled with Templar symbology, inside and outside alike.

Knights Templar Symbols of different crosses they used during Crusades

The question is did the Templars used the church simply to hide their stash of gold as we presume or was it used for another hidden purpose? It is known that the order was very secretive in relation to its activities and many researchers believe that the Templars had a hidden more sinister agenda involving the occult and Gnosticism. It seems likely that the order was on a secret quest to uncover something of great importance, a relic like the Holy Grail, or knowledge of some sort, but nobody to this day seems to know exactly what they were searching for. At dawn on Friday, 13 October 1307 a date sometimes linked with the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition, King Philip IV ordered for all French Templars to be simultaneously arrested. Many of them were tortured and burned at the stake as heretics.  Pope Clement followed shortly after issuing the papal bull on 22 November 1307, which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets. That lead to the dissolution of the powerful order and the ending of one of the most controversial organizations of the Catholic Church.

Another important part of the greater picture to this story, in relation to the Byzantine church and the Templars, is the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) which lead to the conquest of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.  The Byzantine Empire subsequently was fragmented into three rump states centered in Nicaea, Trebizond, and Epirus. The Crusaders then founded several Crusader-Latin states in former Byzantine territory, largely hinged upon the Latin Empire of Constantinople. The region of Meteora changed hands many times over the next century but most of the 13th and 14th centuries Meteora remained under the rule of Epirus state. The presence of the Latin Crusader states almost immediately led to war with the Byzantine successor states and the Bulgarian Empire. The Nicaean Empire eventually recovered Constantinople and restored the Byzantine Empire in 1261. The Fourth Crusade is considered to be one of the most prominent acts that solidified the schism between the Greek and Latin Christian churches, and dealt an irrevocable blow to the already weakened Byzantine Empire, paving the way for Muslim conquests in Anatolia and Balkan Europe in the coming centuries.

Continue reading in Part 2

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Facial reconstruction of a woman that lived 10.000 years ago in the cave of Theopetra

Last year Greek scientists were able to complete the facial reconstruction of a lady that lived and died almost 10.000 years ago, during the Mesolithic period and was buried in Theopetra cave. The lady was named by scientists “Avgi”, meaning the “Dawn” and became world famous when she was featured on a National Geographic magazine article this year. This “boom” of Thessaly’s Neolithic economy was marked by mass population movements and the creation of the first permanent settlements, like Sesklo and Dimini mainly on the Eastern part of Thessaly, close to the Aegean Sea. Sesklo enjoyed its heyday around 5500 BC. The community covered an area of more than 13 hectares and its population could not have been more than a few hundred inhabitants. The buildings at Sesklo had stone foundations and a “superstructure of pisé”, crowned by a gable of a hip roof made of a thick layer of clay on a timber frame.” Most of them where one-roomed measuring between10 to 50 square meters.

The Neolithic settlement of Dimini

Dimini covers an area of 0.8 hectares and the astonishing fact about this site is the six concentric circular enclosures. Initially, it was thought that represented defensive walls but recent reexamination points to the better organization of the land. Dimini was established sometime after 5000 BC and its buildings are within the concentric circles mentioned above. On that same period, Thessaly was known by the name of Pelasgia and its Neolithic inhabitants as Pelasgians. During the early 20th century, archaeological excavations conducted by the Italian Archaeological School and by the American Classical School on the Athenian Acropolis and on other sites within Attica revealed Neolithic dwellings, tools, pottery and skeletons from domesticated animals (i.e., sheep, fish). All of these discoveries showed significant resemblances to the Neolithic discoveries made on the Thessalian acropolises of Sesklo and Dimini. These discoveries help provide physical confirmation of the literary tradition in the Greek mythology that describes the ancient Athenians as the descendants of a Pelasgian tribe called “Lapithes”, who appear to descend continuously from the Neolithic inhabitants of Thessaly.

Few thousand years later at around 1300 BC during the Mycenaean period in Thessaly region, known at that time by the name of Aeolia, a considerable number of bigger in size settlements were developed. Those bronze age settlements became strong enough to allow their participation on the Greek campaign to conquer Troy, as mentioned in Homer’s Iliad. In fact, Thessalians of that period were among the strongest and wealthiest of bronze age Greeks; the most prominent among Thessalians being Achilles and his fellow soldiers Myrmidons.

Greek warrior of the bronze age period

The cities mentioned by Homer located around the region of Meteora were Trikki (present today Trikala) Oechaliae and Ithomi (present-day Kalabaka). Ruled at that time by Asclepios, a demi-god and the son of god Apollo. He became famous for his medical skills and he was worshiped later on by Greeks as the god protector of medicine in temples called “Asclepeion”. According to 1st-century geographer Strabo, the most famous Asclepeion was in ancient Trikki, modern-day Trikala.  Those 3 Thessalian cities near Meteora region; mentioned by Homer in his catalog with all the participants, formed at a much later period under the name of Estiaeotis one of the four administrative states of the Thessalian confederation. The Thessalian confederation lasted until 353 BC when in the aftermath of the Macedonian victory in the battle of Crocus Field of King Phillip II against the Phocians, the Thessalians appointed King Philip “Archon” of Thessaly. This was an appointment for life, and gave Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, control over all the revenues of the Thessalian Confederation. Furthermore, this made King Philip leader of the United Thessalian army!

Thessalian horseman of the Hellenistic period

The Thessalian cavalry of the period of 16.000 horsemen was highly regarded by the rest of Greeks for its combat effectiveness. During the early Hellenistic period, Alexander the Great used it in numerous battles mainly against the Persian Empire. From that point on Thessaly became one of the closest allies of Macedonian dynasties (1) and they remained so until the invasion of Romans, during the early 2^nd century BC and the battle of Cynoscephalae in 197 BC. The ancient town of Kalabaka known at that time by the name Aiginion, stayed loyal to the Macedonian dynasties till the very end, resisting twice to the Roman conquest of Greece. Few years after 168 BC, the year when the ancient town of Kalabaka was sucked by the Romans, Thessaly was finally annexed by the Roman Empire and with Macedonia, it became a Roman province for centuries to follow.

(1) An important clarification I’d like to make is in relation to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia known also as “Macedonia” and its fake connection to ancient Greek Macedonia is that this modern state situated on northern borders of Greece, roughly occupies today what in the ancient times was known as the land of Paeonia. The citizens of that state today are a mixture of many different ethnicities, mainly Slavs, Serbs and Bulgarians, Albanians and few other. None of which of course ties historically, ethnologically or culturally to ancient Macedonia; a Greek kingdom the south borders of which were reaching 20km north of Meteora.

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Winter has arrived without any further delays! The first snows already cover the nearby mountain tops, making Meteora more mystical for this winter season of 2018/2019. And while the “long night” and the “White-Walkers” mentioned in the “Game of Thrones” lore haven’t made any dramatic appearance yet… don’t miss the chance to discover the more mysterious side of an incredible site. If you don’t like the big crowds of tourists and the hot summer days; if you enjoy to play hide and seek with a surreal landscape in the morning mist; if you prefer the cold breeze and the quietness of winter but still want to explore more and see all, we’ve got you covered! For this winter season, we ‘ve now placed 3 of our most popular half-day tours of Meteora on a winter special offer for you to explore and see everything. Choose to book one of the following tours: Meteora Sunset tour, Half-day Morning tour, Meteora hiking tour between November 1st till February 28th and save up to 20%!

Even amid winter, we operate most of our tours and trips every day. The only reason for us to cancel a tour during the winter period is to experience a snow blizzard and the sudden appearance… of the “White-Walkers”! So, feel safe to book a tour in advance with as any day during the winter period. This is valid also for all our train tours which we operate throughout the year. Most likely there will be few days that the snow will cover the cliffs and the monasteries, but the roads most of the times remain open and clean for people to drive up to the monasteries. Of course, any outside activities like the hiking and scrambling tour, or the rock climbing will be canceled if weather conditions are unsuitable. Expect a full refund no questions asked from our part in case you’ve already made a booking of an outside activity and the weather is not allowing its operation.

Tyrion and Mord having a chat in the open cell of Eyrie and in the background Meteora cliffs!

You might wish to check the visiting hours of Meteora monasteries for the winter period of 2018/2019 (here) because there are significant changes on the timetable of some monasteries. During Christmas or new year’s days, the monasteries follow the regular schedule of the winter period as seen on the link above. Another important thing to know for Christmas holidays is that between December 22nd, 2018 and January 7th, 2019 most hotels will require 3 nights minimum stay to accept a booking around Meteora. So, if you plan for a shorter stay during that period expect some troubles finding a hotel room to book. The same is for all the coming weekends till Christmas holidays. That happens because of a very popular Christmas Festival taking place at Trikala, a quarter drive from Meteora called “The mill of Elves”. It has become over the past few years the biggest, most successful and well-organized Christmas event around Greece, with over 100.000 visitors each year. The festival attracts a lot of Greek people, especially during the weekends and up until the Christmass period The festival is open for the public from November 30th till January 6th, so if you visit Meteora this Christmas this is something not to be missed. Whether you travel with children or without, you ‘re definitely going to enjoy a visit there.

This is a real picture of the actual cliffs they used in GOT series

The winters in Greece are generally milder compared to other northern parts of Europe. Expect an average temperature during the day between 6 and 12 degrees Celsius and close to freezing point during the night. The coldest weather here at Meteora is expected between January and February. That period has the highest chances of seeing a bit of snow, so if you plan a visit to Meteora during that period be prepared in terms of warm clothing. Don’t show up with short pants, sandals, and t-shirts, you’ll end up… freezing. While you visit the monasteries expect a couple of degrees lower temperatures of what you feel in the lowlands of Kalabaka and Kastraki. Both settlements are placed 300 to 400 meters lower of where most Meteora monasteries are situated.

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1. Book everything early ahead if possible

For Greek tourism, 2017 was an all-time record year with over 28 million visitors. The impact of such a record number was evident during the pick period in summer, especially when visitors were searching to find last-minute vacant rooms or seats on tours and transportation. In fact last year a lot of hotels and resorts around Greece were fully booked from very early on. For 2018 tourism experts expect at least a 10% rise on last year’s numbers, so be prepared! Don’t take any chances by neglecting to book your hotels, tours or transfers early ahead. The sooner you finish those trip arrangements the better chances you’ll have to organize your trip the way you like.

2. Monasteries opening hours have changed

 Make sure to check on our website the revised opening hours of Meteora monasteries for 2018 in order not to face any bad surprises. There is nothing worse than having to cross half the world only to find the site you intended to visit were closed. Find the opening hours of monasteries here! When you’ll arrive here you will also find in most hotel receptions our free Visit Meteora map of the area for 2018 with the revised timetable of the Meteora monasteries.

3. Greece’s roads and rail modernization continues

 Despite the decade-old recession, Greece is slowly but steadily modernizing its highway and railway systems. Over the past year alone a brand new highway route 196km long was given in circulation in the west part of mainland Greece, connecting Igoumenitsa port & Ioannina with the city of Patra and Athens. The railway is modernizing also and by June 2018 it’s expected that the entire rail line between Athens and Thessaloniki will be fully electrified, thus reducing the trip time needed today almost by half. That will likely affect the departure and arrival trains from Athens to Meteora. So instead of taking nowadays over 5 hours, the train from Athens after June will need around 3 ½ hours to reach Kalambaka-Meteora. We don’t have any official announcement yet, but the moment we will have one we’ll make sure to post it on our site and blog in order for everyone to be informed of any important changes! If you need information on how to travel from Athens to Meteora or from any other place of Greece make sure to check on our site the Getting here and around section.

4. To book or not to book a train from Athens to Meteora?

 Traveling by train can be incredibly scenic and it’s by far the most convenient way to travel to Meteora from Athens. You can see cities, mountains, and rivers from the seat of a train. Train travel is just an all-around better, more relaxing experience than its air and car counterparts. While those are mainly about getting from point A to point B, trains are about the ride. Hopping by air from one city to another and it’s hard to get under the skin of a destination. Crossing a country – or a continent – by train, is a journey through its landscapes and, as Hemingway said, it is the journey that matters. Find everything you need to know about how to travel by train to Meteora here.

5. Theopetra prehistoric cave remains closed

 Although recently scientists have delivered the reconstructed face of a lady she lived and died more than 10.000 years ago in the cave, as the latest addition of Theopetra’s museum, the archaeological site of Theopetra and the boutique museum remain closed until further notice. Despite the many efforts of the local authorities to re-open the site for the public, this hasn’t been possible yet. Instead, there are few new small museums in the town of Kalambaka and the village of Κastraki that you should take a look. You can find those museums here!

6. Finding parking space outside Meteora monasteries

 During the pick period from May till October be prepared to face issues with finding parking space or brief traffic jams outside the monasteries of Great Meteoro, Varlaam and Agios Stefanos; even more during the rush hours between 10:00 am to 14:00 pm. This happens due to the limited width of the road system and of the parking areas outside of those monasteries to handle a big number of buses and cars arriving all more or less, at the same time. If possible, try to be outside those monasteries before 09:00 am to avoid any big crowds or consider leaving your car entirely in the hotel and join one of the many tours offered by the locals.

7. Guided or independent?

 Meteora is a World Heritage Site and thus exceptionally rich in terms of its historical or cultural significance; an educated tour guide can offer a depth of experience and knowledge that goes far beyond guidebook snippets or plaque-reading. If you don’t have much time and you are here for a couple of days, then only a knowledgeable local guide can lend a laser focus to any sightseeing visit, and this may never be as valuable as when you have very little time in one place like Meteora. A good tour guide will always know the best hours to visit attractions, which places you can skip, how to avoid rush hour, what is closed or under construction, and any number of tricks and tactics that will help you get the most out of a heavily visited location.

8. Ypapanti monastery is open to the public

 Established in the year 1367 AD by a monk named Nilos, it ranks among the oldest monasteries of Meteora. The monastery was made inside a cave on the northern side of a cluster of cliffs. It was restored recently by the monastery of Great Meteoron that still belongs to, and opened for public last September. It’s accessible through only on foot, so only the hikers will have the chance to enjoy beautiful sceneries and this small but magnificent monastery. Our hiking tour visits the monastery, which is with free admission, every day from Monday to Friday when the monastery is open. Don’t miss the chance to visit a monastery of Meteora, away from the big crowds!

9. Discover your adventurous side!

 Join the amazing hiking and scramble tour of Great Saint that will take you upon the tallest of all Meteora rocks, some 400 meters right above the town of Kalampaka. The professional mountain guide will lead you through an ancient curved path upon the rock of “Great Saint”, a huge rock complex, of which thousands of years ago it was an integral part of the formidable ancient defenses of the town below. Very few people know or have climbed this secret passage and even fewer know the history behind that place. Once you reach the top you will enjoy unparalleled breathtaking views you will remember forever! If you wish to find more about this activity then click here.

10. Don’t miss to visit the Byzantine church

 Not only is one of the oldest and most precious churches of Greece, made back in the 4th century AD; it’s also a monument that has managed to preserve the continuity of the local history of the past 25 centuries at least. The church is located in the old district of Kalambaka town and it encloses in its architectural features the transition from the ancient religion to the Christian period and all the different evolutionary stages of the Eastern Christianity for the past 2000 years. A truly hidden gem of Meteora, that hasn’t been discovered yet by the vast majority of visitors. Up until now the Byzantine church of Virgin Mary has remained somewhat elusive, hidden in the shadows of monasteries and of the rocks above and that despite the fact that the church is 10 centuries older than the oldest monastery of Meteora. Our Sunset tour visits this truly hidden gem every day!

11. Always be prepared for encounters of the third kind…

 It’s almost inevitable for a site like Meteora, not to have its own dark conspiratory stories. So be prepared for the chance to encounter here at Meteora the so-called W.I.B. (Women In Black). It’s rumored that those elderly ladies, dressed always in black are specially trained agents operating in our place for thousands of years. You’ll see them often sitting on the sidewalks next to the streets, or on benches in the parks, always watching the surroundings and those passing by. If you ever encounter the “WIB” of Meteora keep calm and smile! Greet them by saying “Kalimera” meaning “Good day”. Like their male counterparts the famous M.I.B., they also seem to possess some sort of precognition or psychic abilities. They seem to know everyone and everything that happens in the small town; sometimes even before it actually happens! Rumor has it they are connected to the notorious “No Such Agency”! If they treat you with fruits or flowers never, never say no. Take whatever they will offer you and calmly reply by saying “Eucharisto” meaning “thank you”!

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Visit Meteora Team

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