Monastery Hopping in Meteora, Photo Essay from Greece
Again a photo essay! I have another one on Meteora Mountains: Rocks of Meteora Mountains, Greece Travel Photos. I have taken so many pictures there and I want to share them with you here. Hope you are not bored with monastery photographs.
Monastery Hopping in Meteora
The morning of 29th Dec 2014 was spent clicking the glorious sights of Meteora. Since we had visited 3 of the 6 monasteries the previous day we had ample time till noon to explore the remaining 3 monasteries.
The sky exhibited huge contrasts in terms of color and brightness. At the east end it was blue and bright but the other end was dark and grey. Whatever the weather the Monasteries seemed to rule perched on the peaks!
Photographers who did not want to miss the magic moment, the sunrise, positioned themselves well at various locations.
Tickets for entrance to the monasteries are available at the entrance. We just need to be there before the closing time. During winters the monasteries open to tourists only at 9, so we had ample time drive around the mountains of Meteora.
St. Nikolaos Anapafsas Monastery located on mountain top and calls for good level of fitness to get to top.
The 6 Monasteries of Meteora
I have elaborate posts on the 6 monasteries of Meteora. Meteora monasteries are included in UNESCO site since 1988. You can click to read these:
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- The Monastery of Roussanou
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- The Monastery of St. Stephen
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- The Monastery of Holy Trinity
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- The Monastery of Great Meteoron
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- The Monastery of Varlaam
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- The Monastery of St. Nikolaos
Earlier days monks used strong ropes to haul up things for survival.
This picture has 4 of the 6 monasteries. To your left bottom is the Roussanou Monastery, the one slightly above it with red roof is the St. Nikolaos Anapafsas Monastery, the topmost one is the Great Meteoron Monastery and the one to you right is the Varlaam Monastery.
Remains of Old monastery on mountain top Meteora
Tips for Visiting Meteora Monasteries
- Tickets for entrance to the monasteries are available at the entrance to each of the monasteries.
- Each monastery has different open and close timings. Each of them has different timings for winters (Nov-Mar) and summers (Apr-Oct).
- And also each monastery is shut for a day. So ideally a 2day trip to Meteora enables you to see all the monasteries.
- There is a dress code to visit the interiors of monasteries of Meteora, kindly follow them.
Wow, that monastery is at the edge of a cliff. Beautiful photos! I wish you also had pics of what’s inside the monasteries.
As always, your photos are breathtaking! I think you had a beautiful sunny day to explore the monasteries. Some of them seem so difficult to reach . I mean now-a-days you may have roads going up full or part of the distance but in earlier days the paths would be quite difficult to negotiate. and to imagine they have built these structures!
I guess there are no ugly places in Greece…this country seems to be dotted by amazing sights at every corner. Thanks for capturing many shots of St. Nikolaos Anapafsas monastery, I will make sure to visit it when in Greece.
What stunning shots you caught of the monasteries of Meteora. I loved the steep cliffs and the buildings hanging not the edges. Thanks for including tips for admission.
Meteora is an amazing place. It does make you think of the lengths people went to in those days for safety and security. How long is the trek past the non-motorable edge? Did you go up?
Each of the monasteries can be reached through motor-able roads. It is for the adventurous lot to trek along the mountains.
Ahh, I’ve been wanting to visit Meteora for years. Looks so amazing! It’s crazy that there are monasteries so high up on the rocks—would love to visit them and see the inside. Wonderful photos!
What a stunning location for a monastery. You did an amazing job capturing the beauty of the place. Fascinating to read about how it was built — with ropes. Incredibly stunning!
Love photo essays. Especially by you guys! Because you capture incredible photos. The St. Nikolaos Anapafsas Monastery looks so cute perched on the edge of the mountain!
These are gorgeous! Love that they become part of the cliff. Super interesting that supplies were lifted by ropes, makes me feel blessed to have all the conveniences I have today!
Greece is one country I have yet to visit, and every time I see photos like this I am reminded that I really need to start planning a trip!
Marvelous!!
Great photos Indrani. I always love the pictures of photographers at work.
OMG Indrani ! One of those posts when I felt lucky to be here … Amazing pics! Stupendous …. astounding .
your pics are soul of your posts !
wow wow!! such a pretty place!
Thank you, thank you for these lovely shots….it has been 50 years since we were there and these are wonderful reminders.
very striking photos
This is such a feat to the eyes.
Wow! Amazing hill top monastery
Beautiful pictures…very nicely presented..
Amazing!!! Love this set of pictures. I can't ever get tired of seeing landscapes like this.
More photographs, please. 🙂
Stunning landscapes and photographed so well.
very beautiful pics 🙂
Such beautiful views…superb shots!
Lovely pics
Beautiful shots of an amazing Photo and nice location……
The Place appears to be a Photographer's Paradise on the Earth! Well clicked….
this looks like a setting from a Agent 007 movie. Beautiful but I think I would be very insecure there.
Really wonderful photos!! Amazing to me how they build some of these building right into the side of the mountain.
Such beautiful photos. I love the monastery!
Amazing places and captures, Indrani! Have a happy weekend!
Beautiful shots of an amazing location.
Amazing..
I have been there too ! It's just amazing !
Those monastries at the end of the cliff is a real marvel.
Photo essays are the best way to put across what you have to say in the shortest possible way.
Amazing photos and views
All images are splendidly captured!
Fantastic photos! I can't imagine anyone living on such cliffs. I can't even imagine climbing to the spot but have seen such places on television. Very intriguing.
Fascinating! That a great place to be visited!
Gorgeous shots! Greece is really beautiful but I feel the emotion behind your images as well.
oh, these are marvelous! that first image is spectacular!
Superb captures as always and I, too, love the monastery on the side of the cliff!! Great, stormy skies for the day as well!!
Immense thanks for posting pictures of places that I may not see.From the captions given and the introduction you must be maintaining a diary with photos given number.So methodical and meticulous as I can see.
Magnificent captures!
Majestic shots. Love the monastery perched on the side of the cliff.