In the Footsteps of Paul: Day 17, Tuesday, March 10

The Meteora Monasteries and Thermopylae

We began our day at the foot of the Meteora Monasteries.  All of these monasteries are perched atop the high cliffs of natural sandstone towers, some of which soar over 2000 feet.  They were created in the 14th century by monks from Mount Athos to the northwest, to provide an isolated, secure place free from harassment or worse from the Ottoman Turks.  Most of the six remaining monasteries (including two convents for women), were for centuries accessible only by rope ladders and nets, used to raise both supplies and people.  Today most can be approached by staircases cut into the stone.  These monastic communities are thriving and growing with members of all ages--in fact, we saw several monks and nuns in their twenties.  The views from the top of the cliffs are among the most magnificent in the world.

St. Stephen's Monastery in the distance.

 Four monasteries.

We visited Varlaam's Monastery, named after the first hermit to live on this rock in 1350.  We walked up over one hundred steps to enter its gate.  Varlaam is an active monastery, and to maintain decorum and dignity, all visiting women are required to wear skirts.  Fortunately the monastery provided wrap around skirts for our pilgrim women.

A pilgrim chorus line inside the gate at Varlaam's Monastery.

Every wall, pillar and ceiling in the church in Varlaam's Monastery is covered with stunning paintings, icons and mosaics.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures inside the church. 

The view from Varlaam's Monastery to the Megalo Meteoro Monastery in the distance.

We next visited St. Stephen's Monastery, which is an active convent for women.  It can be reached by a causeway without steps.  Its church is also splendidly decorated with paintings, icons and mosaics.  It has a museum with ancient vestments, liturgical items, Bibles, Prayer Books, and a letter on parchment signed by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Constantinople in the 15th century.  It was in these monasteries and others like them in the Eastern Orthodox world that kept alive the prayer disciplines first practiced in the Egyptian desert in the 4th century by monks like St. Anthony and Evagrius Ponticus.  They were able "to pray without ceasing" by using the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner."  This prayer, designed to still the conscious mind, fosters intimacy with God.

Teaching on the Jesus Prayer outside the church in St. Stephen's Monastery.

A contemplative garden in St. Stephen's Monastery.

We then drove south across a high mountain range into the Plain of Thessaly.  When we arrived at Mount Parnassus, we stopped at the site of the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC), where 300 hundred Spartan warriors under the leadership of King Leonidas held off a Persian army of more than 100,000 soldiers for seven days. Though the Greeks were eventually defeated by the Persians, historians refer to the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army skillfully and courageously defending its native soil against overwhelming odds. 

The Thermopylae Pass in the misty distance.

Statue of King Leonidas of Sparta.

After a beautiful but fairly harrowing drive around Mount Parnassus, going up and down several thousand feet on a switchback highway, we arrived at the Gulf of Corinth opening to the Ionian Sea.  It is here we will spend the night.

The Gulf of Corinth, with the Ionian Sea in the distance.