This September yoga adventure will be held in the shadow of the majestic Meteora runes - a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kastraki has been consistently being recognized as one of the most charming villages in Europe, with the historic town of Kalambaka also close by and ready to explore.
Meteora
The Meteora monasteries and nunneries, built on top of the rocks, are the most important monastic complex in Greece second only to Saint Athos. The Meteora monuments are among the most important historic monuments of the world and belong to the UNESCO World Heritage monuments. They are the most important monuments in the area of Thessalia (Central Greece) and the most distinguished monuments in Greece second only to Saint Athos. The rough, once hardly accessible peaks of the imposing rocks were reached by the first hermits in the 11th century.
The first monastic commune was set up by Saint Martyr Athanasios the Meteoritis in the 14th century on top of the Megalo Meteoro. For more than 600 years, there had been a flourishing community of 24 monasteries and a number of individual sketes and hermitages. Initially, monks used to ascend the rocks using scaffoldings supported by beams embedded in the rocks, and later nets and rope ladders were used. Nowadays, there are only four monasteries and two nunneries.
- Monasteries: Of The Transfiguration of your Saviour, the Holy Trinity, The Agios Nikolaos Anapafsas( the one who Rests), The Varlaam
- Nunneries: Agios Stefanos (Saint Stephen), The Roussanou
Huge numbers of visitors from all over the world flock to the place daily for meditation and prayer. The monasteries and nunneries are nowadays easily accessible through a well-maintained road network and staircases carved inside the rocks ensure a safe ascent to the top of the rocks.
Visitors can get acquainted with the monks’ and the nuns’ everyday life, indulge in the overwhelmingly magnificent landscape, Byzantine architecture and iconography, and study invaluable religious manuscripts. Kalambaka - a small town and Kastraki - a small village are situated at the foot of the Meteora rocks: picturesque and attractive with hospitable inhabitants, rich cultural life, and modern tourist infrastructure.
Kastraki village
It is a picturesque village of high historical interest and it is located between Kalambaka and Meteora. The landscape (among the beautiful towering rocks of Meteora) is so awesome that gives the visitor the impression that the village is protected by the rocks. The village was set up during the Ottoman Occupation era when a number of small settlements united. The first settlers were Greeks from Epirus who took refuge here to escape the infamous despotic ruler of Ioannina, the Turkish-Albanian Ali Pasha. The village took its name after a Byzantine castle, ruins of which can still be seen.
Visitors can tour the old quarters of the village (protected under Conservation Laws), stroll in the narrow streets, and admire the old traditional houses. A unique experience. Besides the well-known Monasteries of Meteora which are a stone throw away from Kastraki, visitors can also visit old temples. Kastraki is today one of the most touristic villages of the region. It boasts a number of traditional tavernas and a wide range of alternative ways of entertainment.
Kalambaka town
Kalambaka, the most important inland touristic hub of Greece, is the capital of the namesake county, which lies in the northern part of the prefecture of Trikala and the seat of the Munipacility of Kalambaka. The town is built on the foot of the Meteora rocks on the left bank of the Pineios River in the area where it enters the plain of Thessaly. The ancient name of the city was Aeginion, and thus it is mentioned in the Hellenistic and Roman times because of the great importance of its geographical position.
The name 'Aeginion' is testified by an inscription located in the eastern part of the Church of Saint John the Baptist. There are many monuments that someone can visit in the town, the greatest of which is the Church of Holy Mother’s Assumption which is located in the northeast part of the town under the very high rock of Aea. Kalambaka is now the first inland touristic town in Greece because of its vicinity to the rocks and the Monasteries of Meteora.
Distances
- Thessaloniki, 228 kilometers - 2 hours and 30 minutes
- Thessaloniki Port, 228 kilometers - 2 hours and 40 minutes
- Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia (SKG), 258 kilometers - 3 hours
- Athens, 351 kilometers - 4 hours
- Athens International Airport (ATH), 375 kilometers - 4 hours and 30 minutes
- Rafina Port, 370 kilometers - 4 hours and 30 minutes
- Piraeus Port, 360 kilometers - 5 hours
