Hiking Meteora Monasteries E-Book

Michael Mitrovic

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 55

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

The region of the world-famous meteoric monasteries is hiked on ten routes. Each tour takes about 3 to 4 hours and is attractive at any time of the year. Climbing skills are not required, just good shoes and a little sense of direction. The hikes lead to all six active monasteries, which can be visited, as well as to all other sights such as rock monasteries, monk's prison, dragon's cave or spindle, an extraordinary rock. One tour leads to the neighboring villages beyond the Pinio with a bridge from the Ottoman period and a ruined castro, another to the neighboring valley with a bizarre rock formation and magnificent views. The villages of Kalabaka and Kastraki will also be explored extensively. Geological and historical data as well as overview maps for all tours complete the hiking guide. Supplemental Information: This book may be converted to another format for orders outside the Federal Republic of Germany. There is a possibility that the color photographs published here will be converted into black and white images. As authors and designers of the original edition, we have no influence on this.

Leseprobe

Content

Prologue

Brief introduction to the geology of Meteora

1. Hiking route: Around the Monastery of St. Stephen

2. Hiking route: Via the Cat Church to the great monasteries and back

3. Hiking route: Through upper Kastraki via the Monk‘s Prison to the Doupiani Church

4. Hiking route: About the Lying Tomcat around the Meteora rocks

5. Hiking route: From the great monasteries to the mountainous countryside

6. Hiking route: Via the dragon‘s cave to the great monasteries

7. Hiking route: Via the shepherd‘s hut to the monastery of Agios Rousanou

8. Hiking route: In the Triskianos Valley

9. Hiking route: The neighbouring villages Diava and Sarakina

10. City walk: The village of Kalabaka

The monasteries tour 'All Six'

Egyptian vulture – Neophron percnopterus

Prologue

The region of Meteora Monasteries belongs to the World Cultural Heritage. Unlike on the Holy Mountain of Athos, here female and male tourists have a unique opportunity to dive deeply into the essence of the Orthodox religion. And similarly to the monastic republic on the Halkidiki peninsula, which is accessible only to men, the religious life of the Meteora Monasteries receives its special charm from the scenic ambience with its memorable rock formations. In fact, the first monks who settled here were looking for or were attracted by just such magical landscapes. So there is an interaction between spiritual inspiration and the magic of the place.

It is therefore all the more surprising that the vast majority of visitors arrive in motor vehicles and drive as far as possible to the desired monastery, including young, healthy, sporty people. They do this because of a lack of time or may be they are unaware of the many hiking possibilities. They are also afraid of the heat, and last but not least because they generally avoid exertion.

With our hiking guide, we would like to encourage and inspire all nature lovers to explore the beautiful and spectacular region in the most natural way, just as the monks did for centuries: on foot! We have selected eight routes around the monasteries, added one to the neighboring villages and a tour of Kalabaka.

All start and end in the center of Kalabaka. You can alternatively take the bus or your own car to cover parts of the route. All eight hiking routes are almost exclusively off the asphalt roads, all paths do not require climbing skills or equipment. Good footwear goes without saying. Provisions should be taken with you, there are canteen cars only at the big monasteries, otherwise you have to rely on yourself. From all routes you can quickly reach the road and in case of emergency you can go back by bus.

The best season for hiking in Thessaly is from mid-March to mid-May and from mid-September to mid-November. In spring it is not yet so hot, there is still snow on the distant mountains and the streams drain their water into the Pinios. If you don‘t like hustle and bustle, you should not come for the Orthodox Easter. On the other hand, this is just a good opportunity to get acquainted with the religious customs. In autumn it is often still very warm during the day, but it gets cool at night. The weather is unstable, it can rain for a few hours. In summer it is very hot, then hiking tours with a high proportion of forest and an early morning start are recommended. If you hike in the sun, you must protect yourself well and drink about one liter per hour.

Varlaam Monastery

A conscious decision was made not to go into detail about the history and culture of the region and the monasteries. On the one hand, this would go beyond the scope of a handy guide and would decisively shift the thematic weight. On the other hand, there is enough literature to buy in the monasteries and souvenir stores in town, also in English. Some notes are added now and then in the text.

By way of introduction, the currently most probable geological history of the formation of this mystical looking rock formation is briefly explained.

All important practical information is available in Kalabaka: in all hotels and guesthouses the free leaflet 'Meteora maps' is available, there are also several travel agencies and tourist information offices where you can book guided tours, e.g. half-day hiking tours or 'sunset' bus tours etc.

There are just two ways to approach this unique world: to come for hiking out of interest in the monasteries - or to discover the monasteries while hiking! The author of these lines has taken the first way and then searched, found and walked the whole network of paths and trails. Because this should be immediately clear to every visitor of the Meteora area: a single visit is not enough to feel and understand the magic of the place!

Brief introduction to the geology of Meteora

Seen from close up, they look as if the gods had built them out of cement and gravel, which also corresponds to the mythical story of the origin of the rocks of Meteora.

Some of the stone pillars rise more than three hundred meters into the sky, covered by a green roof of willows and meadows, on which the monasteries are majestically enthroned. Their full beauty unfolds from a distance, especially under the influence of the interactions between weather and sunlight. Sometimes they rise cool and gray from the morning mist, sometimes they shine in the golden light of the evening sun. This unique cultural and landscape ensemble unfolds its charms at any time of day or year. And it is easy for the visitor to understand why the monks from the 13th century onwards built their monasteries here, which were almost inaccessible until the 20th century.

In addition to the mythical origin story, there is, of course, also a geological one or more.

However, we want to limit ourselves here to the most plausible explanation, which is largely based on the German-Jewish geographer and geologist Alfred Philippson (1864 - 1953), who visited the region around Kalabaka, Kastraki and Meteora in 1893 and published his travel reports and research results in 1897 in his work 'Thessaly and Epirus'.

The formation history of the rock towers, which are solitary in this region, dates back about 30 million years to the Oligocene in the late Paleogene.