Holy Rocks

The Meteora Monasteries and Pindos Mountains of Northern Greece

February 8^th, 2019

Standing in the plains of Thessaly is a place of exquisite natural beauty and extraordinary cultural, historic and religious significance.

Meteora is an almost unbelievable landscape of massive conglomerate towers formed during the Pliocene epoch, 5.3-2.6 million years ago, when vertical tectonic movements resulted in the plain rising out of the sea with converging mountains exerting such extreme pressure that the sedimentary deposits hardened. Aeons of erosion in fissures and cracks washed away sandstone and shale, resulting in a forest of fantastically shaped rock towers, with overhangs and caves.

From the 11th Century hermit monks sought solitude and shelter here, later audaciously scaling the vertical towers with rudimentary wooden ladders balanced on one another, seeking more extreme separation from society and commencing the ambitious construction of monasteries where retreat and safety from the Turkish incursions was assured. Meteora was UNESCO listed in 1988.

The name Meteora translates to ‘suspended in the air’. As well as the monks the setting eventually attracted the attention of rock climbers. Former NMC-member Bryn Roberts and I travelled there in October 2018 for a first exploration. We flew to Thessaloniki (SKG) and drove the 260km southwest to Meteora (it is 360km northwest of Athens). We shared the Vrachos campsite in the village of Kastraki with French, German, Swiss and Greek climbers, but we never met another Brit the whole time we were there. The weather was settled following storms just before we arrived, never over-warm daytime temperatures dropping to cold, dewy nights.

The only other time I have climbed on conglomerate was Los Malos de Riglos, rising from the plains of Aragon, south of the Spanish Pyrenees. It requires a unique style of climbing, forcing one to trust in pebbles, cobbles and boulders that appear only loosely connected to the rock. Sometimes a rounded depression hold is indeed the result of detachment of such extrusions. Much of the early exploration and development of the towers was by German teams who bolted very sparingly with large ring bolts. Greek climbers have re-bolted many of the classic lines but kept with the tradition of minimalism. Hence expect long run-outs between 4 or 5 bolts up pitches of 30-40 metres.

We had a full rack of trad gear with us but never used it until the final day on the crux chimney pitch of the ‘Pillar of Dreams’ - ‘Traumpfeiler’ in German! - grade 5.9 (HVS 5a/b), on the Meteora’s most impressive tower, Holy Ghost. The NE pillar offers a 9-pitch, 250 metre adventure to a summit with 360 degree views of the surrounding towers and monasteries. In all we had six days of climbing and also visited four of the elaborately constructed and artistically frescoed monasteries.

We had intended to travel south to climb at Varasova, but the day before we set off from the UK, in a chance conversation with NMC member Astell on the People’s March in London resulted in a change of plan. We drove instead west and north to the Pindos Mountains near the Albanian border. Within the Vikos-Aoos National Park is the Tymfi Massif, comprising Mt Astraka (2436m) rising above the deep slash into the limestone terrain that forms the Vikos Gorge.

The region is famous for the Zagorohoria villages, so remote they were allowed autonomy during the era of Turkish invasions, resulting in a cultural flourishing of a unique architectural blending of slate construction in the natural environment.

The evening we arrived in Monodendri village a ferocious thunder and lightning storm flooded the local restaurant and cut all mains power. We set to with the brooms and head torches to help bale out while other diners sat atop tables to keep dry.

We spent a couple of fair-weather days exploring the villages connected by spectacular stone-arched bridges across the lower reaches of the Vikos Gorge. I enjoyed a half-day fell-run up to the Gamila Refuge (1950m) under the north face of Mt Astraka.

This area of Greece is definitely worth a visit, although Meteora requires a very different approach to climbing than that appropriate at Kalymnos or Leonidio.

Meteora mystery

An enduring mystery surrounds a 1.8 metre-high metal cross kept at Varlaam Monastery. The Serbian emperor Stephen DuŠan apparently ordered this cross to be placed atop the Holy Ghost tower, which in due course it was.

However – and here comes the mystery - there remain no traces or record of any attempt to climb the tower (unlike the other towers). The cross was apparently still erect and visible in 1930 but when a film crew landed by helicopter it was on its side; it was removed and given to the monastery.

The tower was climbed for the first time the following year. In 1987 French hot-shot Patrick Berhault attempted to solo ‘Pillar of Dreams’ (the easiest route up the pillar at 5c+) for a film about Meteora, but baled at 80 metres and had to be rescued.