Massive gray pinnacles sculpted by wind and rain, rise toward the sky above the mighty canyons of the Eastern Pindus Mountains. 9th century hermits first climbed them to settle in the caves and fissures of the rocks.
By the 14th century, monastic communities, fleeing from Turkish pirates heard of the “miracles” taking place in the land of the great rock forest and settled there on top of the rock called Stylos or the Pillar where they built a wooden hut. Later a small community was assembled and they built a few cells and a chapel in a cave. Subsequently they got an endowment from a Serbian emperor who allowed them to build a church and expand the monastery with more cells and cloisters.
Meteroa means “suspended in air” and came to encompass the entire rock community of 24 monasteries. What is particularly interesting is that there were no steps up to these monasteries; therefore the monks were lowered by nets or rope ladders 120 feet long to reach the valley floor to grow grapes, corn and potatoes. Each community developed its own resources. All building supplies had to be gathered and then hoisted up in order to construct the buildings. |
| Lovely gardens so high up on the cliffs |
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| These are the cliffs that they built the Meteora Monasteries on. If you look carefully you can see one. |
By the 18th century, Meteora had become a refuge center for Greeks escaping the harsh administration and taxation as well as a hideout for rebel warriors. German and Italian occupation during World War II saw more looting and destruction of the monasteries. Today, only six monasteries survive as living museums.
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By leaving at 8 am we were able to enjoy the first monastery in relative solitude. Soaking up the quiet so near the clouds, we observed the valley below and the larger monasteries even higher above us. As we exited we were greeted by hordes of people climbing the many stairs to also enter the very small space within. As the morning progressed, the “super buses” increased. I am so glad we started early!
We returned to the camp so we could all have lunch and get ready for another road trip! This time we headed to Delphi.
It was a very scenic 142 mile drive. We drove by some very depressing areas that really hit home just how poor these people are. The roads were littered with debris, and rusted cars and buildings either half completed or half demolished could be seen everywhere. Businesses with broken windows, graffiti, and weeds showed no signs of life.
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| We saw Graffiti everywhere as we got off the boat in Greece |
We then came upon miles of cotton fields which were being harvested and loaded onto trucks. Then we headed into the mountains, snaking our way up to enjoy tremendous views out over the valleys. Then we descended to the valley floor only to climb back up again through yet another mountain range.
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| Tractor trailer filled with cotton. |
As we neared Delphi we marveled at how an entire valley was dotted with the light green foliage of thousands of olive trees, with one grove, obviously ancient, identified by the large circumference of their gnarly trunks.
As we climbed our final mountainside, we navigated numerous switchbacks and suddenly we were at our campsite which sat perched at the edge of a cliff overlooking the vast valley below. And in the distance we could see a bay that emptied into the Aegean Sea.
We saw a lot of Grecian roads today, and although 142 miles did not originally seem like much, driving at an average of 30mph took the better part of 5 hours.
Thank goodness we reached our mountain top campsite before dark and immediately broke out the refreshments for a well-deserved happy hour.
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| What a beautiful campsite. What a great reward after a long day. |
