The Monastery of Great Meteoron () is an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

that is part of the

Meteora The Meteora (; , ) 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 Church, Eastern Orthodox monastery, monasteries, viewed locally as se ...

monastery complex in

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

, central

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It is situated on top of a rock called ''Meteora'' or ''Platylithos'', which is 415 metres above the Pineios valley floor.

History

The monastery was founded by

Athanasius the Meteorite Athanasius the Meteorite (; 1302–1380) was a 14th-century Christian monk. He is canonized as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church. His feast day is celebrated on April 20. He is best known as the founder of the monastery of the Great Meteoro ...

in 1356, sponsored by the local lord

Simeon Uroš Simeon Uroš ( sr-Cyrl, Симеон Урош, ; 1326–1370), nicknamed Siniša (), was a self-proclaimed Emperor of Serbs and Greeks, from 1356 to 1370. He was son of Serbian King Stephen Uroš III and Byzantine Princess Maria Palaiologina. ...

, based in nearby

Trikala Trikala () is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala (regional unit), Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios (Thessaly), Pineios. According to the Greek Natio ...

, who that same year proclaimed himself

Emperor of Serbs and Greeks Between 1345 and 1371, the Serbian monarchs held the title of emperor (tsar). The full title was initially Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks, later Emperor of the Serbs, Greeks and Bulgarians in Serbian and ''basileus'' and ''autokrator'' of Serb ...

following the death of

Stefan Dušan Stephen (honorific), Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош IV Душан), also known as Dušan the Mighty ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Силни; – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Emperor of th ...

. During the ensuing century the region fell under the rule of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, which lasted until the

Convention of Constantinople (1881) The Convention of Constantinople was signed between the Kingdom of Greece and the Ottoman Empire on 2 July 1881, resulting in the cession of the region of Thessaly (apart from Elassona) and a part of southern Epirus (the Arta Prefecture) to Gre ...

by which

was taken over by the

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece (, Romanization, romanized: ''Vasíleion tis Elládos'', pronounced ) was the Greece, Greek Nation state, nation-state established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally ...

. was the abbot of the Monastery of Great Meteoron from 1961 to 1973, when he moved to

Simonopetra Simonopetra Monastery (, literally: "Simon's Rock"), also Monastery of Simonos Petra (), is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece. It ranks 13th in the hierarchy of the Athonite monasteries. It is on the sou ...

and became the abbot there. His disciple Alexios, later known as Alexios of Xenophontos, then became the abbot of Great Meteoron from 1973 to 1976. In 1976, Alexios moved to Xenophontos Monastery.

Library

The Great Meteoron has the largest manuscript collection in Meteora. Out of 1,124

codices The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

that were catalogued by N. Veis at the six Meteora monasteries, 610 were recorded at the Great Meteoron.

Nearby attractions

The Devil's Tower (), a large towering rock, is located directly to the south of the monastery. It is next to the ruins of a former monastery on Ypsilotera Rock ().

References

External links

Great Meteoron Greek Orthodox monasteries in Greece Christian monasteries established in the 1350s {{Greece-Orthodox-monastery-stub