Monastery of Great Meteoron

Monastery of Great Meteoron
Religion
AffiliationEastern Orthodox
Location
Location Greece
Geographic coordinates39°43′26″N 21°37′28″E / 39.72389°N 21.62444°E / 39.72389; 21.62444
Elevation613 m (2,011 ft)[1]
From right to left: the Great Meteoron, the Devil's Tower, Ypsilotera, and a partial view of the Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapausas

The Monastery of Great Meteoron (Greek: Μεγάλο Μετέωρο) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery that is part of the Meteora monastery complex in Thessaly, central Greece.[2] It is situated on top of a rock[3] called Meteora or Platylithos, which is 415 metres above the Pineios valley floor.[1]

History

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The monastery was founded by Athanasius the Meteorite in 1356,[4] sponsored by the local lord Simeon Uroš, based in nearby Trikala, who that same year proclaimed himself Emperor of Serbs and Greeks following the death of Stefan Dušan.[5]: 414  During the ensuing century the region fell under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, which lasted until the Convention of Constantinople (1881) by which Thessaly was taken over by the Kingdom of Greece.

Emilianos (Vafidis) [ru] was the abbot of the Monastery of Great Meteoron from 1961 to 1973, when he moved to Simonopetra and became the abbot there. His disciple Alexios, later known as Alexios of Xenophontos, then became the abbot of Great Meteoron from 1973 to 1976. In 1976, Alexios moved to Xenophontos Monastery.[6]

Library

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The Great Meteoron has the largest manuscript collection in Meteora. Out of 1,124 codices that were catalogued by N. Veis at the six Meteora monasteries, 610 were recorded at the Great Meteoron.[7]

Nearby attractions

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The Devil's Tower (39°43′31″N 21°37′36″E / 39.7252573°N 21.6266490°E / 39.7252573; 21.6266490 (Devil's Tower, Meteora)), a large towering rock, is located directly to the south of the monastery.[8] It is next to the ruins of a former monastery on Ypsilotera Rock (39°43′30″N 21°37′38″E / 39.7248841°N 21.6273571°E / 39.7248841; 21.6273571 (Ypsilotera)).[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b Provatakis, Theocharis M. (2006). Meteora: History of monasteries and monasticism. Athens: Michalis Toubis Publications S.A. pp. 11, 32. ISBN 960-540-095-2.
  2. ^ "Meteora". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  3. ^ Poulios, Ioannis (2008). Living sites: the past in the present - the monastic site of Meteora, Greece: towards a new approach to conservation (Doctoral dissertation). Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
  4. ^ "Meteora". World Heritage Datasheet.
  5. ^ Alexis G. C. Savvides (1998), "Splintered medieval hellenism: The semi-autonomous state of Thessaly (AD 1213/1222 to 1454/1470) and its place in history", Byzantion (68:2), Peeters Publishers: 406–418
  6. ^ Dorobantu, Marius (28 August 2017). Hesychasm, the Jesus Prayer and the contemporary spiritual revival of Mount Athos (Master's thesis). Nijmegen: Radboud University. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  7. ^ Provatakis, Theocharis M. (2006). Meteora: History of monasteries and monasticism. Athens: Michalis Toubis Publications S.A. p. 19. ISBN 960-540-095-2.
  8. ^ "Node: Devil's tower (1333712577)". OpenStreetMap. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Node: ‪Υψηλοτέρα‬ (1333712474)". OpenStreetMap. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
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Media related to Moni tis Metamorphosis tou Sotiros - Megalo Meteoro (Meteora) at Wikimedia Commons

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