Stairways to Heaven

Our final few days in Greece took us to the central mainland of the country, as far as the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly. When Lon was doing his research into Greece and what he might want to include in an itinerary, he was fascinated by the pictures that he saw of monasteries built on the top of pillar-like rock formations in the area known as Meteora. It is at least a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Athens to Meteora, so the main question was how it would fit into our visits to the other places that were finding their way onto our "we want to include this" list. In the end, the solution turned out to be quite simple. Meteora has become the second most visited mainland tourist attraction in Greece, surpassed only by the Acropolis. With this kind of popularity, and with us having decided that we wanted to leave the driving to other people, it was no problem to find companies willing and able to sell us a tour package that would leave from, and return to, Athens. It's possible to do a day trip to Meteora from Athens, but a 12 or 13-hour experience, spent mostly on a bus, held no appeal at all. We settled on a 4-day/3-night package that gave us 2 hotel nights in Meteora, and on our way back to Athens, a one-night stop in the ancient Greek "center of the world," Delphi. It was a much more leisurely prospect, and I really enjoyed being able to leave most of the trip arrangements with someone else.

With an 8 a.m. departure from the Athens rail station on Saturday morning, September 14, we were up bright and early. Up until September 2023, the package would have included a train ride from Athens to Kalambaka, one of the towns adjacent to Meteora, but bad floods in Greece last year damaged a portion of the railroad track that has yet to be fixed, so vans and buses are the alternative for all current tours. We were happy to find ourselves on a small-size bus that accommodated only about 20 passengers, rather than on one of several much larger buses that were also heading to Meteora that day. 

The drive to Meteora included a stop for snacks and a photo stop at Thermopylae, primarily 
known for a battle that took place in 480 BC, where the narrow mountain pass allowed a small
 group of Greeks to temporarily hold off a much larger invading Persian army. The monument
is to Leonidas, King of the 300 Spartans who died in the battle.

Although Greece is mostly mountainous, the rock formations at Meteora are unusual. They are not volcanic in origin, but are the product of eons of seismic activity and erosion. Their unusual features have turned Meteora into a present-day rock climber's mecca. 

A drive or walk among the rocks presents ever-changing, otherworldly views.

The first monks arrived in Meteora in the 9th or 10th century AD and laid the foundation for the monastic community that would develop over the next several centuries. These monks were hermits, and they lived their lives in natural caves in the rock walls. 

The hermit monks didn't settle all the way at the top, but they did have to
 find ways to get as far off the ground as they did. The hermit caves
 of Badovas, pictured in the lower photo, are found in the lower third of
 the rock wall pictured in the upper photo. Note the remnants of ladders. 

Beginning in the 14th century, a different type of monk arrived. They weren't interested in living the solitary life of a hermit monk, but sought a monastic life built around the idea of community. It was at this point that the big monasteries began to be built. The construction challenges were enormous. Until the 16th century, the "stairways to heaven" were, in fact, wooden ladders. The 16th century "advancement" in moving people and goods upward was a net attached to a winch mechanism contained within a tower at the monastery entrance. Fortunately for us--and the millions of annual Meteora visitors--we didn't have to swing from a net to access the monasteries, but could use the staircases that were built after WWII.

The 16th century was the peak of monastic life in Meteora, with the largest number of monks and the biggest number of active monasteries. From the 17th century onward, the monasteries were in decline. Out of 24 monasteries that used to exist, only 6 active monasteries remain that are open for visits. Two of the monasteries are now convents with nuns--about 50 nuns in total--and about 17 monks live in the 4 remaining male monasteries. Meteora is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

We participated in two guided tours when we were in Meteora. The first took place on the day of our arrival in Meteora and was labelled as a "sunset tour." It was mostly a driving tour in a small bus, with brief stops for photo opportunities, an extended stop to visit one of the monasteries, and a final stop to watch the sun set on Meteora. It gave us a good overview of the area, but we enjoyed our next tour much more. On Sunday morning, September 15, we took part in a walking tour of Meteora. We got a chance to get away from the bus crowds while "stretching our legs" on the walking trails through--and up, definitely up--some of the Meteora hills. Our tour guide was engaging, and there were only 7 participants, a blissful break from the crowds of the day before. 

Taking a break as we made our way down the
hill toward our hiking tour finish. The bridge was
the easiest part of the trail, which otherwise was
steep and "paved" with oddly shaped stones. Very
tricky. I was having visions of falling and
breaking my hand again, so I borrowed a walking
 stick from the tour guide and that helped immensely.

In this "overview view", three of the active monasteries are visible, one at the lower left
quadrant, and two in the upper right quadrant.

The six monasteries:

The Holy Trinity Monastery. Founded in the 14th C, 
abandoned in the early 20th C, but re-opened after
renovation. The monastery appears in the 1981 James
Bond film, "For Your Eyes Only." 

The Holy Monastery of Saint Nicholas has the lowest elevation
of any of the monasteries, and may have served as a resting place
for those continuing on to the other monasteries.

The Holy Monastery of Roussanou. It is one of the
two convents in Meteora.

The Monastery of Saint Stephen, now a convent. We visited this 
monastery during our "sunset tour." Like all the monasteries, there is a 
3-euro entry fee and a strict dress code for both men and women--no
 bare shoulders and no exposed knees. For women, the knees have to be
covered by a skirt. It's the only monastery of the six that
 doesn't require climbing stairs to enter.

The Holy Monastery of Varlaam, the second biggest monastery of Meteora.

The Monastery of Great Meteoron, the largest and the oldest of the six. We visited this
monastery as part of our hiking tour.

Just a portion of the staircase leading up to the entrance of
the Great Meteoron. It was a busy day for visitors, perhaps
not unusual for a Sunday.

You can just see the Monastery of Varlaam between us. It wasn't
far from the Great Meteoron, just the "next big rock over."

Sunset over Meteora with "500 of our closest friends". It was difficult finding a flat place
to stand, and forget about trying to sit. For as pretty as the view was, the crush of people
made it one of our least favorite experiences in Meteora.

The Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, found in the
old part of the town of Kalambaka, and seemingly the only
old building remaining after WWII devastated the rest of
the town (and damaged the monasteries as well.) The current
church was erected between the 10th and 11th centuries,
although excavations in the floor show a mosaic from an earlier
building. The exterior walls incorporate artistic fragments from
 Roman-era buildings. Interesting interior--but no photos allowed!

The Holy Monastery of Ypapanti, first established 
in the 14th century, was fully constructed inside a
rock cavity. It had been renovated, but is now 
abandoned. 

The simple pleasures: in exchange for the bits of
chicken I brought back from restaurants, or a
breakfast sausage, this adorable kitten consented
to spend time on my lap purring and sleeping.

After our two days in Meteora with its miles and miles of walking, including some serious changes in altitude up to Meteora hilltops and back down again, on September 14 we were whisked by private transport to the town of Delphi. The route was primarily on two lane roads and was stunningly beautiful at times. We again had a short stop in Thermopylae, but by lunchtime we were at our hotel. It was too early to check in, but we could leave the luggage, go to lunch, and visit the archeological site in Delphi.

Modern Delphi is a small town filled with guesthouses, small hotels, and restaurants. The archeological site of Delphi, just outside the town limits, sits at the base of Mount Parnassos. It had the most famous oracle of ancient Greece and was regarded as the center of the world. In mythology, two eagles were sent out by Zeus to find the "navel of the world." Delphi was where they met, and for centuries--starting in about the 8th C BC and continuing through the Roman era until abolished by Theodosius in the 4th C AD--it was a cultural and religious center of Greece. The Oracle of Delphi, believed to deliver prophecies from the Greek god Apollo, was considered as the most reliable of the Greek oracles and was consulted on both private and public matters. It reached its peak of influence between the 6th and the 4th centuries BC. 

The archeological studies in Delphi began in 1860, initially by the Germans, and supplemented in the 1890's by the French. There are two sanctuaries in ancient Delphi, the one at higher elevation devoted to Apollo, and one at lower elevation devoted to Athena. But first, we made a stop at the archeological museum, which preserves and displays many of the important finds from the Delphi digs.

On the approach to the museum and the archeological sites.

Left: The Sphinx of Naxos was erected next to the Temple of Apollo.
Right: The bronze statue of a charioteer from the 5th C BC. It likely
survived being melted down--a common fate for many ancient 
bronze creations--because it was buried under a rock fall.

Looking at the ancient Delphi site from a perspective near the site entrance. There was
going to be a lot of "up" involved in wandering the site.

Upper: a portion of the Temple of Apollo, the main site of Delphi and
from where the oracle made her predictions.
Lower: At the top of the amphitheater, looking down at the Temple of
Apollo and the valley beyond.

A portion of the omphalos--the navel of the world,
the symbol that Delphi was the center of the universe.

In legend, the Sibyl Rock was that from which the earliest high
priestess of Delphi proclaimed her prophecies.

Fun and (athletic) games were all part of the Delphi experience. At
the highest point to which we could climb was this
stadium at which the contests were held.

The Athenian Treasury, the only restored building on the Delphi
site. It was not a temple, but was used to store the offerings of
money and precious objects that were being presented to the 
gods. Several other city-states also built treasuries at Delphi.

From the heights of the Apollo sanctuary in Delphi
can be seen the ruins of the Sanctuary of Athena 
Pronaia (lower-level, mid-photo).

The circular temple, a tholos, at the site of the Sanctuary of
Athena Pronaia, less than a mile east of the main ruins in Delphi.

Several restaurants in Delphi had views to the Gulf of Corinth,
including the place we had dinner to finish out our day. 

Tuesday, September 17, was essentially an all-day travel day for us and immersion in the joys of public transportation. Late morning we caught an intercity bus from Delphi that took us to one of the bus stations in Athens. We managed to find the bus stop--thank goodness for directions from a helpful bus driver--from which to catch the express bus to the Athens Airport, and then took a local bus to the nearby town where our accommodations waited. Finding the perfect "night before flight" place to stay is always a challenge, and this place was just OK, but at least it was only a 10-minute drive from the airport and the owner of the apartment we stayed at provided the service (for a fee, of course). The remainder of the return to the boat in Auxonne was fine--the flight to Paris and the subsequent trains operated perfectly. 

We are now in the final stages of our preparation to return to Florida. We leave the boat for an airport hotel on Monday the 30th, and our flight back to the U.S. is October 1. The first few days back in France were sunny, so we were able to get our outside chores--especially the touch-up paint--mostly done. We went through withdrawal from the lack of stairs to climb. Ian and Lisette were in port, so we had a few get-togethers with them before they returned to Australia. We've been mostly inside the past two days, as it's been quite wet. Fall has arrived.