Monastery of Varlaam in Meteora

Opposite the Great Meteoron, at a slightly lower altitude, is the Monastery of Varlaam, which rivals it in volume and grandeur. The monastery took its name from the hermit Varlaam, the first man to climb this steep stone mass.

Varlaam built around 1350 BC a small church dedicated to the Three Hierarchs. After his death and for more than a century, the rock remained deserted. At the beginning of the 16th century, two brothers from a noble family of Ioannina, the monks Nektarios and Theophanis, ascended here, who in 1518 AD rebuilt the church of the Three Hierarchs. Later they built the church of the Prodromos and the church of All Saints, the catholicon of the Monastery, which impresses with its two domes.

Architecturally it follows the standards of the Athonite catholicos. A museum operates in the old bank where priceless heirlooms and manuscripts are exhibited, among which the handwritten Gospel attributed to the emperor of Byzantium Constantine Porphyrogennetos stands out. Among the many things that the visitor can admire in the Monastery of Varlaam (All Saints), one of the 6 "active" monasteries of Meteora is a huge wooden barrel.

The barrel has a capacity of 12,000 liters (12 tons) and was originally used to store rainwater for drinking. Later, when this problem was solved with the construction of tanks, it seems to have been used to store wine.

Varlaam Monastery - Visiting Hours (T/ +3024320 22277)

Summer hours (1/4 - 31/10) : 9:00-16:00 Closed every Friday Winter hours (1/11 - 31/3) : 9:00-15:00 Closed every Thursday & Friday