Monasteries on the sky — Byzantine monks atop 400m sandstone pillars above the Thessalian plain
Meteora is one of the most otherworldly places in Europe — six Eastern Orthodox monasteries clinging to the tops of sheer 400-metre sandstone rock pillars above the market town of Kalambaka, originally accessible only by rope ladder or net basket. Monks began building these virtually unreachable sanctuaries in the 14th century to escape Ottoman raids; today the UNESCO-listed complex is one of the most important Eastern Orthodox monastery sites in the world, the sunrise and sunset light show across the pillars drawing visitors from every continent.
The first hermit monks arrived in Meteora's caves and overhangs in the 11th century, drawn by the impregnable isolation of the rock formations. The 14th-century Athonite monk Athanasios Koinovitis founded the first proper monastery (Great Meteoron) around 1340, beginning a building period that produced 24 monasteries over the next two centuries. At their peak the monasteries held hundreds of monks; today only six survive and are inhabited by small communities. The name 'Meteora' means 'suspended in the air' in Greek — a description as accurate today as when the first monk climbed the bare roc…