In Meteora, Monasteries Sit on Top of Rock Pillars

Meteora is a cluster of Orthodox monasteries in Thessaly, in central Greece, standing on the flat tops of tall pillars of rock. The rock is sandstone and conglomerate — river sediment laid down in a lake delta, lifted by earth movements about 60 million years ago, then cut into pillars by rain and wind along its vertical faults. The peaks stand more than 400 metres above the ground. 12

Monks began living on the pillars in the 11th century, in hollows and cracks in the rock. Twenty-four monasteries were built up there, most of them from the late 14th century, as refuges from the upheaval below. For centuries the way up was a long ladder or a net that lifted both goods and people, and the ropes were replaced, the story goes, only when they broke. Steps were cut into the rock in the 1920s, and six monasteries remain today. 12

Visual credits: the drone footage of the monastery on its pillar is by So Kenobi on Pexels 3; two more aerials came from the Pixabay library 45; the stills of the mist between the pillars and of the monastery above the cliff came from the Pexels library 67, and so did the cover photograph.