See Moni Megalou Meteorou (Great Meteoron Monastery), Greece (UNESCO site)

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Moni Megalou Meteorou (Great Meteoron Monastery) is the largest monastery in Meteora. Also known as the Monastery of the Transfiguration (Metamorfosis Sotiros Monastery), it was founded in the mid-14th century atop Broad Rock (Platys Lithos), the highest of the Meteora pinnacles. While the monastery once housed 100 monks, in 2015 only three monks were in residence. (More than a dozen lay employees help manage the site.) The rock formation of Meteora (sounds like “meta aura”) has attracted humans to its caves for 50,000 years. In the 11th century CE hermit monks began taking up residence. In the 14th century CE as Greece came under increasing attack from the Turks, monasteries were built on the pinnacles accessed via nets and baskets hoisted with ropes or else by using long ladders that could be pulled up when threatened. Not until the 1920’s were steps carved into the rocks. Of the 24 monasteries constructed, only six are still functioning, albeit more as tourist attractions than as religious enclaves. As of 2015, the four male monasteries had a total of 15 monks while the two female monasteries had a total of 41 nuns. Meteora was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988.

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