The Meteora and Kalambaka

March 5, 2015

Kalambaka is a municipality in the Trikala regional unit, part of Thessaly in Greece. Today the attraction here is the Meteora monasteries which are located in the town. Meteora means “suspended rocks” (Eye Witness Travel Guide) or “things hovering in the air” (Greece, by Facaros & Theodorou); the word is etymologically related to “Meteorite.”

The Meteora has a massive cluster of natural sandstone towers which were used as early as AD 985 as a religious retreat. At least 24 monasteries were funded here; today there are six major Meteora monasteries (Greek Orthodox).

Monastery of Rousanou at Meteora, Greece. Photo by Dennis Jarvis.

Monastery of Rousanou at Meteora, Greece. Photo by Dennis Jarvis.

This group of steep, towering rocks in the center of the Plain of Thessaly is a “unique geological phenomenon”. . .”created by a series of upheavals in the earth’s crust, and the landscape is of unique interest” (Greece: Between Legend and History, p.178).

The town of Kalambaka is situated on the foot of the Meteora peaks.

Kalambaka, Greece. by Mzmona - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KAlambaka.jpg#mediaviewer/File:KAlambaka.jpg

Kalambaka, Greece. by Mzmona. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KAlambaka.jpg#mediaviewer/File:KAlambaka.jpg

While these are not biblical locations, they are sites of interest as one is in Greece visiting those places mentioned in connection with Paul’s 2nd and 3rd Journeys in Acts.


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