Cooking in the Monastery, Meteora, Greece (1996)

Meteora is a spectacular scenic and architectural treasure in Thessaly, central Greece. A remarkable collection of vertical plugs of sandstone and conglomerate rise up from the plain. Starting around 1000, hermits moved into caves on the rock pinnacles. In the second half of the 14th century, monks established Eastern Orthodox monasteries on these remarkable rock pillars. The monks sought isolation from the mortal world, a bridge between the mortal and the divine. The precipitous rock pillars also provided safety from bandits and marauding Turkish troops. At its peak, Meteora had 24 monasteries, but only six are active now. 

Ecclesiastically, this complex of monasteries is second in importance to the remarkable ones on Mount Athos in northern Greece. I visited Athos in 1995, a memorable trek.

The Meteora region and the architecture are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

My stepdad and I visited central Greece in mid-1996. We stayed in a hotel in Kalabaka, the major town nearby. Then we spent two days exploring the monasteries that were open for tourists. Some are now ruins and dangerous to access.

Village of Kastraki

Holy Monastery of Rousanou and the village of Kastraki

Evening in Kastraki

Grand Meteoron

The Holy Imperial Monastery of the Holy and Great Meteoron is a spectacular architectural treasure.  "In 1340 St. Athanasios of Meteora occupied the ‘Platylithos’, the rock which he was to name ‘the Meteoron’ (i.e. the rock suspended between heaven and earth), and went on to lay the solid foundations of cenobitic monasticism at the Meteora." Their web page provides history and visiting information. 

The ancient buildings house chapels, libraries, storage rooms, workshops, and kitchens. 700-year-old kitchens? Smoke-darkened pots and hearths? What could be better? 

Food Preparation

Sure, these old utensils have been staged. But some penitent monks used them years and centuries ago to prepare food for the members of the monastery. 

Storage

Food storage was always an issue. The monks needed supplies for the harsh winter months. They also needed to protect their supplies from marauding bandits. In times of war or banditry, villagers may have taken refuge in the monastery. 

Sewing and Farm Equipment

Meteora is a gem. Go there as a life goal! But the area is now grossly over-touristed, so visit in the off season. 

I took these photographs with a Rolleiflex 3.5E twin lens reflex (TLR) camera with a 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens. These are long exposures (1/2 sec and more). I braced the camera on railings or shelves. The Rolleiflex is well-suited for this type of work because you can place it on a shelf, look down into the viewfinder, and use a cable release or the self-timer to trigger the long exposure. The camera does not have a moving mirror and is almost vibration free, so it is perfect for long exposures. The film was Tri-X professional 320 film, exposed at EI=250. I developed it in Rodinal (the genuine Agfa product) at 1:25. I measured the light with a Gossen Luna Pro Digital meter.