The monastery of St. Nicholas is located in the marshlands between Lake Vistonida and the sea, it’s set on an islet linked by a pedestrian causeway. It is a beautiful natural spot and a minor pilgrimage destination. On the neighboring smaller islet connected by a small wooden...
Cloaked by beautiful Mediterranean forest, the steep slopes of Mount Athos are punctuated by twenty imposing monasteries and their subsidiary establishments. Covering an area of just over 33000 hectares, the property includes the entire narrow rocky strip of the easternmost “finger” of...
We drove from Volos (🛣️ 10 EUR / Class 3) through Larisa, where we bought some food at Lidl, to the extraordinary rock formations of the Meteora. The rock masses were formed some 60 million years ago, their distinctive and varied shapes sculpted over time by earthquakes, rain, and wind...
At a tranquil location with a panoramic view, scattered with antiquities, at the plain of Thirea, at a small distance from Astros, is located Loukous Monastery. It is built at the location of ancient Eva, at the ruins of the temple of Polemokrates, which during the Early Christian period...
The monastery of Moni Hosios Loukas, a UNESCO World Heritage site (entrance 4 EUR), is situated at a scenic site on the slopes of Mount Helicon. It overlooks a remote valley 23 kilometers southeast of Arahova. Dedicated to a 10th-century hermit Luke of Steiris canonized for his healing...
The Monastery of Saint Naum is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in North Macedonia situated 29 km south of Ohrid (parking fee 150 MKD). It is an imposing Byzantine-style structure on a cliff near the Albanian border named after the medieval Saint Naum who founded it. Naum was a contemporary...
This revered 1020 Byzantine monastery surrounded by dense forest is nested above the canyon of River Radika on the foot of Bistra Mountain. The monastery got its name Bigorski because it has been built with large blocks of travertine. The frescoed church houses what is alleged to be St...
We drove through tobacco fields along a narrow, steep mountain road to Zrze Monastery, where only 7 monks live now. It is located on the clifftop above the village Zrze at an elevation of 1000 meters, around 26 kilometers from Prilep. The monastery’s tranquil position around a...
Monastery of Saint George is located on the slopes of Kozjak Mountain and in the vast Pcinja River valley. The original Church is sitting in the inconspicuous village of Staro Nagoričane. It was built by the Byzantine Emperor Roman IV Diogenes in 1071. As one of his many endowments...
We made a short stop in Gračanica Monastery (it’s not allowed to take photos inside). The monastery, which is set on large, grassy grounds, was built by the Serbian king Stefan Milutin in 1321 on the ruins of a 6th-century basilica. The medieval-era paintings here are impressive enough...