Day Four - Thessaly Plain and Meteora

After leaving Macedonia region of northern Greece, we made our way to central Greece and got to the rock forest of Meteora, which means “in the heavens above.” The rock features are massive and indeed would have made for a treacherous crossing as Paul moved along on his missionary journey. Dotted along the rock tops in Meteora are amazing Byzantine monasteries perched on top of the massive rock pillars. In the 13th century, monks seeking refuge in caves on the sides of these sheer cliffs. Eventually, they made their way to higher shelter, constructing wooden shelters that eventually became monasteries.

We drove past many soaring monasteries, and were able to take some photo opps both above and below them. Eric was able to see the Holy Trinity monastery, which was featured in the James Bond movie with Roger Moore. We took a tour of St. Stephen’s monastery and it was just gloriously intricate and beautiful on the inside as the view outside overlooking the plain was spectacular.Read more