---
node: spot_meteora_varlaam_monastery
type: spot
slug: varlaam_monastery
destination: dest_meteora
title: "Monastery of Varlaam"
lead: "Varlaam is the second largest Meteora monastery, built in 1541 on a rock where the hermit Varlaam had lived alone two centuries earlier. Its frescoes by Frangos Katelanos are the best preserved on the site."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_meteora_varlaam_monastery.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%CE%9C%CE%BF%CE%BD%CE%AE_%CE%92%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%BB%CE%B1%CE%AC%CE%BC_%CE%9C%CE%B5%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%8E%CF%81%CF%89%CE%BD_%CE%B1%CF%80%CF%8C_%CE%BA%CE%AC%CF%84%CF%89.jpg"
image_author: "Chousainov Iskander"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

## Overview

The Apsaras brothers from Ioannina rebuilt the abandoned cell into a monastery, and a note in the archive records that hauling the materials up took twenty-two years while the building itself took twenty days. The church of All Saints was painted in 1548, dark and crowded, with a Last Judgement that the guides let you find yourself. The tower with its windlass and net still stands over the old ascent, alongside a barrel that held the community's water.

## Highlights

About two hundred steps, fewer than Great Meteoron, with a bridge across the gap at the top. The frescoes are the reason to come; give them time and let your eyes adjust before judging them. Varlaam sits within walking distance of Great Meteoron, so the two pair naturally in a morning.