---
node: spot_meteora_great_meteoron
type: spot
slug: great_meteoron
destination: dest_meteora
title: "Monastery of Great Meteoron"
lead: "Great Meteoron is the largest and highest of the six working Meteora monasteries, founded in the mid fourteenth century by Athanasios the Meteorite. Until stairs were cut in the 1920s, the only way up was a rope ladder or a net hauled by windlass."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_meteora_great_meteoron.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Megalo_Meteoro_panorama.jpg"
image_author: "Janmad"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 2.0"
---

## Overview

The rock stands about six hundred metres above sea level and the monastery covers its whole summit. The church of the Transfiguration keeps its 1388 sanctuary inside a larger nave of 1544, frescoed with a Last Judgement and with the martyrdoms that the Ottoman century made topical. The old refectory is now a museum of manuscripts and icons, and the kitchen and cooperage are left as they were worked.

## Highlights

The climb is about three hundred steps and there is no shortcut; take water. Look for the net and the winch tower on the way in, kept as a reminder of the old ascent. Opening days rotate among the six monasteries and change with the season, so check the current schedule before setting out, and cover shoulders and knees.