The Monasteries You Could Only Reach By Rope

Travel Onion · 2:33

For over five hundred years, the only way into the monasteries of Meteora was to be winched up a 300-metre cliff in a rope net. When visitors asked how often the monks replaced the rope, the answer was: when the Lord lets it break. They built with no stairs on purpose — that was the whole defence. Steps weren't cut into the rock until the 1920s. Twenty-four monasteries went up on these pillars; six are still lived in, and supplies still ride up the cliff on a cable. Save this one for the trip you actually take. 📍 PLAN YOUR VISIT — METEORA ✈️ Getting there: fly to Athens or Thessaloniki, then ~4–5h by bus or car to Kalambaka; stay a night — day-trippers miss sunrise and sunset