Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ (Great Meteoron)
Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ (Great Meteoron) features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Meteora. Give it roughly ~60 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type religious
- Suggested visit ~60 min
- Meteora Meteora guide
About Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ (Great Meteoron)
The oldest, largest and highest monastery of Meteora, crowning Broad Rock with a museum, a great frescoed church, a monks' ossuary, and roughly three hundred steps to climb.
The Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ, known as the Great Meteoron or Megalo Meteoro, is the oldest, largest and highest of the Meteora monasteries. It stands on the sandstone pillar called Broad Rock, about 615 metres above sea level, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1988. A hermit, Saint Athanasios the Meteorite, founded the community around the middle of the fourteenth century, and his successor Saint Ioasaph, the former prince John Uros, rebuilt its first church.
The present katholikon, dedicated to the Transfiguration, was built in the sixteenth century and frescoed by an anonymous painter of the Cretan School. The monastery preserves the largest manuscript collection in Meteora and has turned its barrel-vaulted refectory into a museum of icons, vestments and codices. It also keeps an ossuary of monks' skulls. For centuries the summit was reached only by net and windlass; today a rock-cut stairway serves. It remains one of six active monasteries.
Did you know? In a quiet side room the monastery keeps an ossuary: the skulls of departed monks rest on open shelves, and two silver reliquaries hold the skulls of its founding saints, Athanasios and Ioasaph.
How long is a visit to Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ (Great Meteoron)?
Set aside roughly ~60 min for Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ (Great Meteoron). That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ (Great Meteoron) worth your time?
Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ (Great Meteoron) is among the 10 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Meteora, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Meteora
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Hear the story of Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ (Great Meteoron)
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