Varlaam Monastery (4K) @ Meteora, Kalambaka, Greece, Europe

Varlaam Monastery is an Orthodox monastery, located in northern Greece, in the plain of Thessaly, near Kalambaka, in the valley of the Peneus River. It is part of a group of six monasteries called Monasteries of the Air or Monasteries of the Sky located in Meteora, which have been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. The first inhabitant of this promontory was the monk Varlaam, who around 1350 built several cells and a church dedicated to the Three Holy Hierarchs (Basil of Caesarea, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom). In 1518 Theophanes of Crete reached the top of the promontory and built the Church of All Saints and the Church of San Giovanni Battista on the ruins of the previous buildings. The first ascetic who scaled this rock used wooden steps as a base; on these he placed a first elongated wooden ladder, which was driven into the rock with wedges and thus placed another ladder upwards. This mechanism served as an example for his followers, giving rise to the rest of the Meteora monasteries. They were later replaced by long hanging ladders which caused dizziness to those who ventured to the top. Those who did not dare to use the suspended steps lifted them by hanging them from a net. The climb lasted half an hour of restlessness and terror, swinging in the void. In 1923, the steps were changed to make it safer to reach the top. The net is still in use today, but is used to carry supplies and other items needed for the maintenance of the monastery.

Видео Varlaam Monastery (4K) @ Meteora, Kalambaka, Greece, Europe канала Pietro Pecco