Meteora
Landmark
Monasteries on top of pillars of rock, high above a Greek valley.
In the middle of Greece pillars of rock stand up to 400 metres above the plain. On top of some of them are monasteries, built there from the fourteenth century by monks who wanted to live far from the world.
For centuries the only way up was a rope ladder, or a net hauled up on a rope. Twenty-four monasteries were built; six are still in use. The name Meteora means hanging in the air.
- the rocks are high
- 400 m
- monasteries still in use
- 6
- World Heritage since
- 1988
- 1
Steps were only cut into the rock in the 1920s. Before that, everything and everyone went up by rope.
- 2
It is said the monks replaced the rope only when it broke.
- 3
The rock is sand and pebbles, pressed together on the floor of a lake tens of millions of years ago.
Question 1 of 2
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