Monastery of Agios Stefanos: The “Hospitable” One

From the parking lot, just cross the small stone bridge to reach the Monastery of Agios Stefanos, without having to count steps. It is the southernmost monastery, the first that the visitor sees as he comes from Trikala. The monk Ieremias is considered the first settler of the rock, as early as 1192. A monastic commune seems to have been operating on this rock since the early 14th century.

It is said that in 1333 AD the emperor of Byzantium Andronikos Palaiologos was hosted here and since then it has prevailed to call the monastery "royal". However, the official founders of the monastery are the venerable Philotheos (16th century) and the venerable Antonios Katakouzinos (15th century), son of a Serbian ruler. The paradox with the Monastery of Agios Stefanos is that its current catholicon is dedicated to Agios Charalambos, whose skull is kept in the monastery and is considered miraculous.

The church of Agios Charalambos was built in 1798 and is the newest catholicon in Meteora, where the elaborate wood-carved iconostasis of 1814, a work of Metsovo carvers, impresses. However, the older catholicon, dedicated to Agios Stefanos, a single-aisled basilica at the southern end of the complex, is also preserved. It had been decorated in the year 1501 AD, but its frescoes were damaged by vandals during World War II and the Civil War. It has been operating as a women's monastery since 1961.

Agios Stefanos Monastery - Visiting Hours (T/ +302432022279)

Summer hours (1/4 - 31/10) : 9:00-13:20 & 15:30-17:30 Closed every Monday (Sundays opens at 09:30) Winter hours (1/11 - 31/3) : 9:00-15:00 Closed every Thursday & Friday