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Grand Adventure
The Great Meteoron is Meteora’s largest, oldest, and highest
Monastery. It was founded in the 14th century by Saint Athanasios.
Known as Megalou Meteorou in Greek, the complex is perched on
a rock about 2,010 feet above sea level. The monasteries were built
on rock cliffs in the deltaic plains of Meteora. The cliffs rise to more
than 400 meters (1,300 ft). These monasteries are in the Pineios
Valley within the Thessalian plains close to Kalambaka. Monasteries
were built at an average of 1,000 feet (300 meters) in height, with
several reaching 1,800 feet (550 meters). The monastery is on top
of the enormous stone, named consistently “Platis Lithos”, having
a total area of more than 50 acres and a height of more than 43,
reaching more than 613 meters above the sea. The first to climb
“Platis Lithos” was the monk Athanasios, an ascetic figure of the
Meteora’s early hermitic community, who later became a Saint of the
Greek Orthodox church. He was to be followed by 14 other monks,
and in 1340 AD, they managed to build Theomitoros (God’s Mother)
church, thus organizing the first systematic monastic community in
Meteora. Later, St. Athanasio built a church, the Transfiguration of
Jesus Christ, which became the monastery’s Catholic church.
Meteora’s three most spectacular monasteries are the Monastery of
Transfiguration of Jesus, best known as the Great Meteoron—the
Chapel of John the Baptist, St. Constantine, and St. Helens. The
treasures of books and manuscripts preserved in the monastery’s
library are priceless. Byzantine era manuscripts and documents,
books concerning the function of the monastery, patristic texts, about
typographical and income, all encompass a broad array of writers and
thinkers from the Hellenistic period (323 BCE to 31 BCE), marked The monks follow strict rules and gather at the church four times
by the spread of Greek culture and influence after the conquests daily; Orthodox liturgy lasts about 6 hours daily. The practice of the
of Alexander the Great. This collection represents a rich tapestry monastic life, which is the monks’ primary study, agrees with the
of human thought, culture, and history spanning various eras and morals of the Greek Orthodox Church. Monks are devoted to Christ
intellectual traditions. It would be of immense value for scholars, by carrying prayers and renovating, restoring, and preserving the
historians, and enthusiasts interested in classical studies, theology, monastery and its beauty. As a result, every year, pilgrims and tourists
literature, philosophy, and legal history. The library is unique. are overburdened by the great mission to make Great Meteoron one
of the most visited monasteries in Greece.
VARLAAM MONASTERY, the holy Monastery of Varlaam, is the 2nd
largest monastery in the region of Meteora, located near the largest
one called The Great Meteoron. The sacred Monastery of Varlaam
owes its name to the Catholic hermit-anchorite monk Varlaam, a
daring ascetic who first ascended and inhabited this rock in the mid-
14th century. Varlaam was followed by a few other monks with whom
he established this monastery. After Varlaam climbed to the top of
this rock cliff, wooden ladders with about 25 rungs were in place to
assist the other monks in following him. The monks added four or
five ladders with the help of pegs. The monks often had to jump from
one ladder to the next, risking their lives to ascend.

Varlaam and his fellow monks built three churches, a small living
cell, and a water tank. Decades after Varlaam’s death, the rest of the
monks abandoned the cliff. The site remained abandoned for about
200 years. The 14th-century chapel built by Varlaam dedicated
to the three hierarchs nearly turned to ruins after the monastery
dissipated. In the early 16th century, two wealthy brothers from
Ioannina named Theophanes and Nektarios Absoros reached the
rock’s summit and decided to reactivate the abandoned Monastery of
Varlaam. The Absoros brothers were descendants of the old continent
Byzantine family. They are celebrated today as the two founders of the
Monastery of Varlaam, even though their name did not eclipse the
original monk who inhabited this rock. They settled on the cliff and
spent many years renovating the ruins of Varlaam. Their community
consisted of about 35 monks who assisted in the rebuilding project;
monks and materials were hoisted up the cliff by hand in a rope net.
The collecting and transporting of the materials took 22 years, but the
building only took 20 days.

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