Rock Formations of Meteora Greece: a Photo Essay

The first sight of the spectacular rock formations of Meteora Mountains in Greece can sweep you off your feet. They say: Earth rises to the Heavens here!

rock formations of Meteora Greece

Mountains of Meteora Greece

Mountains of Meteora Greece

The rocky mountains rise over 400m above Kalambaka, a Meteora village and the valley of River Peneus in Thessaly.

Before I get on to showing the monasteries, here is a photo essay on just the rock formations there. They have weird shapes and textures. I had a hard time selecting 10 of them.
Meteora mountains

How did Meteora Rocks Form?

This unique and dramatic landscape of Meteora did not happen in a day!

It is like a forest of rocks there! How these structures acquired their form in Meteora have been researched a lot, yet it is a mystery even today!

Studies conducted here indicate the rock formed about 60 million years ago during the Paleogene Period (the time in which mammals evolved). These are natural sandstone rock pillars.
Craters in rocks of Meteora
Picture this: Meteora is bordered by the imposing Pindos mountain range in its west and north. And to its east and south is the endless valley of Thessaly.

According to geologists, Thessaly was once an enormous lake that was emptied into the Aegean Sea due the vigorous land form changes that could be due to the ground movement beneath the upper crust of earth. What was left was very fertile flat land.

A number of streams from the Pindos Mountains emptied their waters and deposited their sediment into Thessaly Lake for over thousands of years. This mixture of stone, sand, and mud at the edge of the lake formed a conglomerate. When the lake dried the softer sandstone around it eroded away. What remained was the beautiful rocky outline of Meteora.

Many of the peaks here were chosen by monks to build their monasteries. Probably they found it the best way to connect to heavens in sky from earth. This was the shortest and direct path that allowed the monks’ prayers to reach heavens above.

Meteora Greece: a Photo Essay

History of Meteora

The name “Meteora” means “suspended in mid-air”. This word was coined by monk Athanasios in the 14th century who came there from Mt. Athos. He founded the first monastery on a rock he named the Megalo Meteoron (Great Meteoron).

During the Byzantine era several monasteries propped up on the mountain peaks. These tops of the steep rocks became the spiritual platform for the Orthodox Christian monks.

Prior to these monks too, in the 11th century, hermits had dwelled on these mountain tops. They stayed in basic wooden structures clinging to the faces of the rocks high above the ground.

Rock formations Meteora

Meteora rocks are constantly being shaped by wind and water, though it takes years to notice the changes.

Rise and Fall of Meteora Monasteries

In 15th century there were 24 different monasteries active in the area, but by the end of that century the Turkish occupying authorities closed them all.

The monasteries were allowed to open again in the 16th century. By the prosperity reigned in as they had acquired a great number of donations in the form of money and land.

The monks could expand and improve the buildings. Lavish decorated paintings, accessories adorned the monasteries. They took care to stuff the libraries with rare manuscripts that were passed down.

However by 18th century the Meteora monastic community saw a second phase of decline. Only in 20th century that is since 1960 the monasteries were revived. They were designated as a cultural heritage site, and serious efforts were made to salvage the monasteries and their priceless artefacts.

Today 6 monasteries are active. Monks or nuns reside on Meteora and play host to a staggering figure of three quarter of a million tourists annually!

Driving through the winding roads carved through these cluster of rocks was like zipping across in some science fiction movie.

Meteora Greece Mountains

Weird Rock shapes in Meteora

Other things to do in Meteora

If you are done with the visits to the monastery there are several interesting activities like rock climbing, hiking the ancient footpaths to the monastery and lot of photography opportunities.

Meteora is one of the best destinations for photographing the sunsets and sunrises. Unluckily for me both the days I was there it was cloudy during those golden hours.

Things to do Around Meteora

Drive to Pindos mountain range to hike the tall mountains and feast your eyes on the deep gorges and the traditional villages.

You can drive further to Ioannina and the west coast of Greece and enjoy beach resorts.

Trikala has a lovely church and is more cosmopolitan comparatively with good eating joints.

Rocky structures of Meteora Greece

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