Download coordinates as: The Meteora (/ˌmɛtiˈɔːrə/;[1] Greek: Μετέωρα, pronounced [meˈteora]) is a rock formation in the regional unit of Trikala, in Thessaly, in northwestern Greece, hosting one of the most prominent complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries, viewed locally as second in importance only to Mount Athos.

Meteora is located in between the town of Kalabaka and the village of Kastraki at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains.

[5] The Meteora complex was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988 because of its outstanding architecture and beauty, combined with religious and cultural significance.

[7] Beside the Pindos Mountains, in the western region of Thessaly, these unique and enormous columns of rock rise precipitously from the ground.

[8]: 5 The conglomerate was formed of deposits of stone, sand, and mud from streams flowing into a delta at the edge of a lake, over millions of years.

About 60 million years ago during the Paleogene period[9] a series of earth movements pushed the seabed upward, creating a high plateau and causing many vertical fault lines in the thick layer of sandstone.

[8][clarification needed] This type of rock formation and weathering process has happened in many other places locally and throughout the world, but what makes Meteora's appearance special is the uniformity of the sedimentary rock constituents deposited over millions of years leaving few signs of vertical layering, and the localised abrupt vertical weathering.

Excavations and research have discovered petrified diatoms in Theopetra Cave, which have contributed to understanding the Palaeo-climate and climate changes.

[10] Vegetation grows thickly out of the vertical rock walls, mainly due to the water that one is able to find in the cracks and crevices that scale the cliff.

[8]: 11  Over the past several hundred years, the reports that the Meteora was easily accessible by foot have changed because now one must pass through an impenetrable jungle.

The oldest known example of a built structure, a stone wall that blocked two-thirds of the entrance to the Theopetra cave, was constructed 23,000 years ago, probably as a barrier against cold winds (Earth was experiencing an ice age at the time), and many paleolithic and neolithic artifacts of human occupation have been found within the caves.

The first people who were documented to inhabit Meteora after the Neolithic Era were an ascetic group of hermit monks who, in the 800s CE, moved up to the ancient pinnacles.

Initially, the hermits led a life of solitude, meeting only on Sundays and special days, to worship and pray in a chapel built at the foot of a rock known as Dupiani.

By the late eleventh century and early 1100s, a rudimentary monastic state had formed, called the Skete of Stagoi, and it was centerd around the still-standing church of Theotokos (Mother of God).

[16] The creation of the monastic community at Meteora was protected and sponsored by the local lord Simeon Uroš, based in nearby Trikala, who in 1356 had proclaimed himself Emperor of Serbs and Greeks following the death of Stefan Dušan.

[4]: 414 Simeon Uros was succeeded in 1370 by his son John Uroš, who three years later retired as a monk to the Meteoron monastery and died there in the early 1420s.

The hermit monks, seeking a retreat from the expanding Ottoman empire, found the inaccessible rock pillars of Meteora to be an ideal refuge.

[17] Access to the monasteries was originally (and deliberately) difficult, requiring either long ladders that were latched together, or large nets that were used to haul-up both goods and people.

[18] In the words of UNESCO: "The net in which intrepid pilgrims were hoisted up vertically alongside the 373 metres (1,224 ft) cliff where the Varlaam monastery dominates the valley symbolizes the fragility of a traditional way of life that is threatened with extinction.

[22] There are various rocks of Meteora that surround the village of Kastraki and border the north side of the main town of Kalabaka.

The monastery is believed to have been built just before the mid 14th century by a monk from Mount Athos named Saint Athanasios the Meteorite.

After Varlaam's death, the monastery was abandoned for two hundred years until two monk brothers, Theophanes and Nektarios Apsarades, came to the rock in the 16th century and began to rebuild the churches in October 1517.

[54] The two brothers from Ioannina spent twenty-two years hoisting materials to the top of the rock formation, however, the building only is reported to have taken around twenty days.

[59] In the 14th century, John Uroš moved to the Meteora and endowed and built monasteries on top of the rock cliffs.

[61] The monastery is made up of many buildings including new katholikon, the "hestia" (kitchen), an old refectory that has since become a museum, and an assortment of rooms with different purposes.

[61] Meteora is popular with hikers, trail runners, mountain bikers, and rock climbers from around the world, particularly during the summer.