Patty & Phil at St. Stephen's Monastery in Meteroa
Marders in Greece:
Day 10 Meteora
We visited two monasteries during our visit to Meteora. The word Meteora means literally 'hovering in the air'. The monasteries are built on natural rock pillars in central Greece. The rocks are composed of a mixture of sandstone and conglomerate. They were formed about 60 million years ago when a series of earth movements pushed the seabed upwards, creating a high plateau and causing many fault lines to appear in the thick layer of sandstone. Continuous weathering by water, wind and extremes of temperature turned them into huge rock pillars, marked by horizontal lines. First, we drove to the summit of one of these rock peaks and visited the monastery of St. Stephen's. These monasteries were built in the 16th century AD. This Greek small orthodox center stood at the peak of one of these hills. All the women in our group had to put on temporary skirts over their slacks before being allowed into the monastery and church. Our guide described to us the paintings and religious icons along with the history of this period for the Greeks. Interestingly, there are no sculptures in these Greek Orthodox churches but rather are adorned with these paintings or "icons". We learned during our visit that the icons each tell a religious story and were meant to be educational for those early followers who could not read or write. They are quite beautiful and abundant in these little churches. The view from the top of the monastery to the town of Kalambaka was outstanding. We also visited another monastery, that was called "Varlaam". This one was built on a different rock hill and was quite a bit larger than the one at St. Stephans. Also, there were many more steps to climb in order to reach the entrance. We again entered and as before, the women in our group had to put on temporary skirts. The most interesting part of Varlaam was the fact that there was no direct way up to this monastery from the base of the hill. Today, we crossed a bridge at the apex in order to enter. In olden times, visitors were put in nets and raised or lowered to a "receiving dock" at the monastery. Could you imagine what that must have been like? No photos were permitted inside either of these monasteries. After visiting the monasteries, we rode in our motor coach a little way and visiting a craft shop that created these icon replicas for souvenirs. From there it was a seven hour ride back to Athens to stay for two more nights in Greece. Along the way, our guide pointed out the area where the famous battle of Thermopylae was fought between the Greeks and Persians (480 BC) as well as that of Marathon. Interesting, Marathon is exactly 26 miles from Athens, thus creating the namesake for this type of long distance foot race.
Day 10 Meteora
We visited two monasteries during our visit to Meteora. The word Meteora means literally 'hovering in the air'. The monasteries are built on natural rock pillars in central Greece. The rocks are composed of a mixture of sandstone and conglomerate. They were formed about 60 million years ago when a series of earth movements pushed the seabed upwards, creating a high plateau and causing many fault lines to appear in the thick layer of sandstone. Continuous weathering by water, wind and extremes of temperature turned them into huge rock pillars, marked by horizontal lines. First, we drove to the summit of one of these rock peaks and visited the monastery of St. Stephen's. These monasteries were built in the 16th century AD. This Greek small orthodox center stood at the peak of one of these hills. All the women in our group had to put on temporary skirts over their slacks before being allowed into the monastery and church. Our guide described to us the paintings and religious icons along with the history of this period for the Greeks. Interestingly, there are no sculptures in these Greek Orthodox churches but rather are adorned with these paintings or "icons". We learned during our visit that the icons each tell a religious story and were meant to be educational for those early followers who could not read or write. They are quite beautiful and abundant in these little churches. The view from the top of the monastery to the town of Kalambaka was outstanding. We also visited another monastery, that was called "Varlaam". This one was built on a different rock hill and was quite a bit larger than the one at St. Stephans. Also, there were many more steps to climb in order to reach the entrance. We again entered and as before, the women in our group had to put on temporary skirts. The most interesting part of Varlaam was the fact that there was no direct way up to this monastery from the base of the hill. Today, we crossed a bridge at the apex in order to enter. In olden times, visitors were put in nets and raised or lowered to a "receiving dock" at the monastery. Could you imagine what that must have been like? No photos were permitted inside either of these monasteries. After visiting the monasteries, we rode in our motor coach a little way and visiting a craft shop that created these icon replicas for souvenirs. From there it was a seven hour ride back to Athens to stay for two more nights in Greece. Along the way, our guide pointed out the area where the famous battle of Thermopylae was fought between the Greeks and Persians (480 BC) as well as that of Marathon. Interesting, Marathon is exactly 26 miles from Athens, thus creating the namesake for this type of long distance foot race.
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