Meteora monasteries – the miracle of Greece. Few kilometers northwest of the town of Kalabaka, the impressive rocks of Meteora are rising from the plains of Thessaly been one of the most amazing places in Greece. Many centuries ago, on these gigantic rocks with the breathtaking landscape reaching heights of more than 600 meters, it was formed one of the most important monastic communities of Greece. The Greek word Meteora means “suspended in the air” and this phrase aptly describes these remarkable Greek Orthodox monasteries.
Meteora is a great place to experience , a spectacular landscape and byzantine monasteries perched on top of steep rocks that house priceless artifacts and wall paintings. Today only six monasteries are active with a small number of monks or nuns who reside on Meteora. In 1988, the Meteora monasteries have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and the Meteora-Antichassia area is part of the Natura 2000 network hosting some rare species of birds and flowers. As you approach the town of Kalabaka, the nearest big town near Meteora , and the picturesque village of Kastraki you will see a complex of giant sandstone rock pillars that climb up into the sky. On top of them you will spot the famous Meteora monasteries.
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Which Meteora monasteries to visit?
Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron
The Great Meteoron, also known as the Holy Monastery of the Metamorfossis (Transfiguration of Christ), is a male monastery and is the oldest and largest of all the monasteries of Meteora. It is built on the greatest rock of the complex, the Platys Lithos or Playtlithos. It was founded little before the mid-14th century (around 1340) by a scholar monk of Mount Athos, Saint Athanasios Meteorites. The monastery has a pleasant courtyard and there are many amazing frescoes to see. Probably one of the most interesting parts of the monastery…
The Varlaam Monastery is named after the first monk who built the first church on the rock. This was in 1350 and Varlaan built three churches, a room for himself and a water tank. Unfortunately no other monks joined him, after his death the site was abandoned for 200 years. In 1517 two monks from Ioannina, Theophanes and Nektarios Apsarades , re-founded the monastery. Nowadays the monastery can be reached by a bridge and has a small museum, there are a lot of impressive 16th century paintings to see as well…
The Rousanou Monastery was built in 1545 by Maximos and Ioasaph of Ioannina, it is unclear who the actual monastery is named after, but it is dedicated to St.Barbara. Like other monasteries at Meteora the Roussanou monastery was looted during the Second World War. The monastery is reached by a bridge that has some dramatic drops. Nowadays the Monastery is run by nuns. The monastery is located on the way from Kastraki to Meteora between St. Nicholas Anapafsas and Varlaam monastery…
St. Nicholas Anapafsas monastery was founded in the 14th century and nobody is quite sure who the monastery is named after. This Monastery is most famous for its frescoes by the famous Cretan artist Theophanes Strelitzas in 1527. Some of these frescoes include the passion of Christ and the Virgin Mary praying. The monastery fell into disrepair and was completely abandoned for 60 years from 1900 to the 1960’s when the Greek government repaired the monastery…
The 14th century St. Stephen monastery is the closest monastery in Meteora to the main town of Kalabaka, and so the easiest to visit. St. Stephen monastery was founded by St. Antoninus Cantacuzene, who is thought to be a son of the Serb ruler Nicephorus II of Epirus, in 1400. The Katholikon at the monastery is dedicated to St. Charalambos who’s head it contains, as it is believed to prevent illnesses. Much of the monastery was destroyed during World War Two and the Greek civil war that followed. The monastery is run by Nuns…
You may recognise the monastery of Holy Trinity as it was used in the James Bond movie ‘For your eyes only’ Roger Moore scales the cliff face. Out of all the monasteries of Meteora Holy Trinity has the most dramatic location, the rock face is a sheer drop and the rock itself is a lot more slender. The monastery was built in 1458 and had many treasures, but most of these were looted by the Germans during the Second World War, most of the frescoes are from the 18th century…
Meteora Thrones is the leading travel service company in Meteora and the surrounding area, which has earned the trust and loyalty of visitors who want to organize in the best and most effective way their visit to Meteora and the Holy Monasteries.
We organize everyday tours with the goal to offer you the absolute and authentic Meteora experience with the best prices in the area. Enjoy with us the best panoramic and majestic views of your life. Our experienced staff and the “State of the Art” VIP Limo Mini bus we own guarantee an unforgettable, high quality, way to discover our unique place.
We also provide private tours with VIP services and personalized programs to enjoy the magic of Meteora in the maximum. Come along to make the tour of your dreams!
t was a very fantastic trip one of my best in my life
We had few stop to take some nice picture and visited 3 monastry inside
The guide man... read more was very friendly and helpfull
Attila197909 September 13, 2022
The tour and guide guy was so nice, stay overnight or 2 in Kastraki village, eat at Gardenia Taverna
SydneyCristos September 19, 2022
We had a great time with this tour. Our tour guide greeted us at the Kalambaka train station parking lot. We were grouped with other tourists in a big coach... read more bus. The tour began by taking us to a 20min stop in the Kalambaka town to grab some food. The tour is well organized with photo and monastery stops. The tour ended at Kalambaka train station, about 50 minutes before our scheduled train back to Athens.
The company also offers this tour with return train tickets from Athens. It's a little more expensive than booking the train tickets yourself. However, the trainose website is not well organized. I got first class tickets for a family of 4 with 2 young children. 2 days before my trip, the train company emailed me and said I have booked the handicapped seats due to technical difficulty from their part, and they changed my tickets to coach class. I wasn't happy but I wasn't going to fuss about it. But when we were boarding, those coach seats were actually occupied. After some stress and communication, the train conductor put us in empty seats in first class (and some other wonderful passengers volunteered to move their seats so we could sit together with our young children). And similar thing happened on our return train tickets back to Athens. I'm happy that at the end it was resolved. But we are traveling in low season now. I can't imagine what would happen if the train was full in high season.
The point of my story is, it might be worth it to book the tour along with the train tickets through a 3rd party who probably would know how to navigate the trainose ticketing website.
LisaTong111 May 23, 2022
Despite the heat in Greece this summer, this was so worth it, yes, even climbing hundreds of stairs to get into the monasteries. I'm not a religious person, but the... read more history, the beauty of the landscape, and the people are all so amazing. I am truly fortunate to have such an experience.
946arind July 30, 2022
excellent guide, amazing tour. - If you are in Meteora for the first time and if you can afford it - this is definitely the best tour. Antonis made sure to cater for everyone's interests... read more and physical abilituy, which in our case (I was with my 13 year old daughter and my over-75 mother). If I come there for the 2nd time I will now few lifehacks by myself already (how to access some monasteries by going down the hill, not climbing, for exammple), which offer more mystical atmosphere and which can be looked at simply from outside to avoid touristical crowds. Excellent guide, amazing tour.
agnemama March 21, 2023
Family trip. Excellent guide. Pictures dont do it justice. Hotel was comfortable. A highlight of our trip.
chrisv445 August 16, 2022
Hiking with Meteora thrones - Dimitri & Sarah tour guides made my experience unforgettable. The unique and charming views of Meteora coupled with the personalized approach of Dimitri & Sarah... read more in touring made the whole difference. It felt like hiking with old friends, we laughed, got informed, and enjoyed the sceneries all at the same time. I'm very grateful to them and seems that Meteora Thrones leaders know how to recruit! Best.
nicolitta07 May 17, 2022
Meteora 4 hour hiking tour - We were promptly picked up and we then made our way to Varlaam monastery,where we had 45 minutes.
Then we had an awsum hike with Crystos the tour guide who... read more was very knowledgeable about all of the meteora history and also natural history,plants and animals along the way.Definately recommend
Otaihangadebz June 7, 2023
Our tour to Meteora was amazing. I think it was the place I enjoyed the most in Greece land. some weeks ago I had to change the type of tour... read more for personal reasons and meteora thrones was kind enough to change it pretty immediately and refund me the money of the first one. On the other hand, our guide, Sara, told as a lot of good information and in a dynamic and quite way (not as a radio, if you know what I mean) 😉 she was very sweet and clear. I would definitely recommend this agency and the place to everyone visiting.
LuciaS139 June 3, 2022
I did the 4 hour tour after arriving by train the day before. I don't usually (ever!) do tours but this was very well priced and I thought a convenient... read more way to get around the monasteries. The day I arrived I hiked up to the nearest two from Kalambaka and in theory you can visit them all yourself, as long as you set off early enough but I'm so glad I did this. I'm pretty fit and getting up the steps to each monastery was quite tough and would have been too much with walking to them all as well. Plus the guide gave a great talk about the monasteries, history and area was passionate about his home town. Both driver and guide were very friendly and helpful. Definitely recommend.
Amazing adventure! Train depart around 8am morning from Athens, it’s around 4 hours journey. There is small snack and coffee shop in a train. After we arrived in Kalambaka around... read more 12 our lovely tour guide Ria was waiting for us. The car we did sightseeing was with ac, very comfortable. She had also water for us. As we decided not to take a break before sightseeing we went straight into Kastraki village to start the sightseeing. Ria was extremely polite, she told us absolutely everything and more than we could ever learn about place, history, monasteries and monks. She had a great knowledge, good positive vibe and patients to make us millions of pictures. Private tour was more convenient for us we didn’t have to wait for others, if we wanted to stop for pictures we did. We took our time in visiting monasteries without any time/ other people pressure. After all Ria has took us for lunch in a lovely traditional restaurant because we eat local when we travel. And around 6 pm we departed back to Athens. Make sure u book your trip ahead, might be not available last moment. Also way back is little bit tiring, train had some traffic delays so I took us more than 5 hours so I would recommend (if you have time) to stay a night in Kalambaka and go back next day. The level of hiking to monasteries is moderate, but if you do it slowly and have water with you, it will be okay.
234emiliaw June 15, 2022
The tour was fantastic and so was our tour guide, Dimitris! He was very knowledgeable about the history of Meteora and very enthusiastic! I highly recommend this company for your... read more tour!
argmyrsini June 9, 2022
Our tour of Meteora was amazing. Yiannis and Costas were both excellent hosts. We would definitely recommend visiting Meteora to anyone who is able to visit!
harrison j May 16, 2022
The tour was very well organized and the guide Chris knows everything about Meteora and I had an amazing day knowing all history about Meteora!
Rene Moreira January 1, 2022
The Tour was great! We started early enough so at least the first Monasterie was quiet empty still. We were a small group which was very comfortable as well. The... read more tourguide was Great! She knew so much not just about the monasteries but also the history of the Rocks. She was super nice at we took a lot of stops to take great pictures with less tourist.
I really enjoyed this tour.
miladl24 August 15, 2022
A very well managed tour of a spectacular area. It was a long day (departing Thessaloniki @ 9.30am
and returning to our hotel @ 10.45pm); however we saw... read more so much. Our driver and Tour Guide were terrific.
Judy C October 16, 2023
We did Tha half day tour and it was great. Really complete for the ones that are short of time, as you have the opportunity to visit half of... read more thee monasteries, go through the panoramic views and listen to the main facts about the place.