At fifteen or sixteen years of age, he ran away from home to Constantinople, the capital of Byzantine Empire, where he became a monk.
After ten years and aged about 28, he left Saint George on a series of pilgrimages that brought him to the Holy Land, Rome and possibly Santiago de Compostela.
[1][2] Upon his return to Greece, he settled on Mount Myoupolis and Patriarch Nicholas III of Constantinople consecrated him a priest.
[4] They occasionally contradict each other, but are nonetheless valuable historical sources because of their emphasis on Meletios' interactions with the Byzantine elite.
[3] Nicholas focuses more attention on Meletios' care for his monastic community, whom he protects from fire and whose gardens he defends from rabbits.