In Meteora GREECE  there 6 mystical Christian Orthodox monasteries incredibly

nestled securely on the edge of extraordinary rock formations. Meteora means “suspended in the air”.

These monastaries are holy places and some have a dress code as follows: Women wear skirts below the knees.  Men wear long pants and cover arms with something they can easily slip on and off.

You can choose to wear shorts and just in case bring a skirt or large scarf that will cover your knees for women and long pants and jacket for men to change into.

Most of the Meteora monasteries were built in the 1500’s and then added to over the centuries.

One of the more easily accessible of the monasteries, the Monastery of St Stephen was built in the late 12th century. Refer to the beautiful fresco of ICONS on the right.

 

The monastery has been restored numerous times and added to until it’s current form as a nunnery since 1961 and where the sisterhood of nuns are known for their remarkable social action.

Meteora is a monastic site that is increasingly gaining significance as a World Heritage site, as a tourist destination and as functioning “living sites of the present” influenced by wider changing circumstances which is a new approach from “monuments of the past” approach. Living sites: the past in the present approach.

Most of the Meteora monasteries were built in the 1500’s and then added to over the centuries.

The “living sites” approach focuses on the communities viewing them as inseparable from the sites. The ultimate aim is to shift the focus of conservation from ‘protection’ towards a continual process of ‘creation’ in an ongoing present, attempting to change the way heritage is perceived, protected and, more importantly, further created with spiritual and construction works stemming from the divine and their representatives, i.e., the divine ‘Ministry of Spirituality and Culture’.

The Great Meteoron Monastery (refer above) is the largest, oldest and best known monastery in Meteora where Christian monks live.

It’s also called Megalo Meteoro or Metamorphisis, the first church of the Transfiguration of the Savior (refer right) was built in the 14th century upon the highest rock.

At the sanctum of the catholic there are important frescos of the Macedonian school and the remarkable frescos of the main church and the narthex are believed to be created by Georgie, student of Theophanous the Cretan.

Some other important buildings at the centre are

the kitchen, and dining hall, called the “trapeza”.

Refer Left. This is the chapel of the Divine Mother of God (Virgin Mary of the Meteorite Stone).  You can see the Madonna and Child have an central position.