Tessália · Greece
In the destination Meteora.
In the photo: Kalambaka
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
The city
Kalambaka is the town at the foot of the rocks of Meteora, in Tessália, with about 8,000 inhabitants. It has a train station, a bus terminal, hotels and tavernas, and is the base for visiting the six monasteries, the Byzantine Church of the Dormition, the village of Kastraki and the Theopetra cave. It is about 350 km from Atenas and 230 km from Tessalônica.
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The local experience
The largest and highest of the Meteora monasteries, founded in the 14th century by Atanásio the Meteorite, atop the rock Platys Lithos. Church painted in 1552, refectory-museum from 1557, ancient kitchen and the monks' ossuary.
Second largest monastery in Meteora, opposite the Grande Meteoro. Church of All Saints from 1541, frescoes from 1548 attributed to Frangos Katelanos, a tower with the hauling mechanism and the old net, and a museum of manuscripts and vestments.
Female monastery on a narrow rock between Varlaam and Agios Nikolaos, dedicated to Santa Bárbara. 16th-century church with frescoes from 1560 of the Cretan school; access by bridge and about 140 steps.
The first monastery on the road, near Kastraki, built in levels on a narrow rock. It houses the 1527 frescoes by Teófanes, the Cretan, the painter’s oldest dated work.
The monastery of the Santíssima Trindade, isolated atop a separate pillar, with a church dating to 1475 and a chapel carved into the rock. The climb has about 140 steps along a staircase cut into the stone, and the view reaches Kalambaka and the plain.
Female monastery at the end of the road, the only one reachable by a bridge without stairs. Old 14th-century church, the church of Agios Charalambos from 1798, and a museum with manuscripts and embroideries.
Igreja bizantina da Dormição da Virgem, in the upper neighborhood of Kalambaka, built between the 10th and 12th centuries atop a paleochristian basilica. It preserves a marble ambo in the middle of the nave, frescoes from 1573 and sections of ancient mosaic flooring.
Village of about a thousand inhabitants tucked against the rocks of Meteora, 2 km from Kalambaka. Stone houses with red roofs, tavernas, guesthouses and the start of the road and trails to the monasteries.
Old monk paths that link Kastraki and Kalambaka to the six monasteries, through oak woods and between the rocks. Sections range from 30 minutes to 3 hours, with steep climbs and viewpoints off the road.
Prehistoric cave about 5 km from Kalambaka, inhabited continuously from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic. A 17-metre-wide entrance with views of the Meteora rocks and a documentation center in the village of Theopetra.
Natural history and mushroom museum in Kalambaka, opened in 2014. Dioramas with around 350 species of birds and mammals from the region and a collection of roughly 250 mushroom species, with tastings and truffle-hunting outings.
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