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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Where did you stay? We are looking at visiting next year.
Really nice photos and amazing nature's wonder
Wow! Those are spectacular rocks.
Amazing pictures! Loved the rocks.
The photos one and two give us a wonderful view.
Awesome!!
Totally, my kinda place. 🙂
Very striking and a little spooky.
Amazing…… Nature at its best art!!!
The rocks are magnificent
those shapes looks so artistic 🙂
Amazing sequence, Indrani!
wow .. i hope you dont posses copyright for making it desktop background .. even if you do you will never know 😀
Wow. what a place. I would love to visit this place once…
These are wonderful.. amazing. Some of them look hauntingly like people.. ish.
Wow amazing formations… its fascinating how nature never ceases to surprise us!
Amazing photographs… Indrani, you should categorized these posts under "50 shades of Greece" 😀
All these posts from your Greece trip are very interesting & unique.
Quite interesting subject . what a nice "infrastructure" by nature
Nice to see these images. You should also travel to ladakh to a place called Lamayuru.
Wonders of Nature! Wonderful pics Indrani… 🙂
Nature is truly beautiful…. Nothing less can we talk here…. You have nicely captured all these Original Monuments in your Camera… Thanks for sharing!
The wonder of nature.
Awesome pics!
Great that you got to visit 🙂
And they look so impressive! But I am waiting for the monasteries.
Amazing!!
no words for pictures…..its awesome 🙂
Wonderful natural formations.
Wonderful set of rocks..They have stories..:)
Nature and time are the greatest and most skilled sculptors.
Thanks for sharing this amazing pics..
Wow they are definitely magnificent. Loved the honey combed rocks. Beautiful post.
Quite interesting subject…great pics 🙂
Really, The place is so enigmatic that it would be tough to choose just ten, can't get enough of them, Excellently captured and brought to life.
Awesome captures and an amazing series, Indrani!! Thank you so much for sharing!! What incredible rock formations!!
We have some impressive rock formations where I live, but these are something else entirely. Incredible!
Cool formations!
60 million years…that's too long. Amazing creature of nature.
A strange, yet beautiful series! I've never seen rock formations quite like that before.
Wow – gorgeous shots.
Majestic sights!
Amazing photos
marvelous! eerie! wonderful!