Monasteries of Greece

by Chris Hellier

Dramatically sited monasteries, built on cliff-tops or hidden in remote valleys, are one of the most characteristic sights of rural Greece. Around two hundred, some small, others more like fortified hill towns, lie scattered across the country, from the central Peloponnese to the narrow peninsulas of southern Macedonia, from the heights of Thessaly to the remotest Greek isle. This book takes us inside some of the more remarkable houses; to the semi-autonomous theological community of Mount Athos, the leading centre of orthodox monasticism for over a thousand years, and to the soaring pinnacles of the Meteora massif, site of the perched 'monasteries of the air'. On Patmos, the holiest island, stands the fortified Monastery of Saint John, near the grotto where, according to tradition, Saint John had his Apocalyptic vision. And in the central Peloponnese lie the ruins of Mistra, once the 'Florence of the Orient', where the last group of medieval monasteries were built during the final flo