World Heritage Identification Number: 455
World Heritage since: 1988
Category: Mixed Cultural Heritage and Natural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇬🇷 Greece
Continent: Europe
UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America
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Meteora: Monastic Complexes Perched on Sandstone Pinnacles
The Meteora, located in the Trikala regional unit of Thessaly, northwestern Greece, is a unique and captivating landscape that serves as the home to one of the most significant Eastern Orthodox monastery complexes in the world. This UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1988, offers a remarkable blend of history, art, and natural beauty.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
In a region of almost inaccessible sandstone peaks, monks settled on these 'columns of the sky' from the 11th century onwards. Twenty-four of these monasteries were built, despite incredible difficulties, at the time of the great revival of the eremetic ideal in the 15th century. Their 16th-century frescoes mark a key stage in the development of post-Byzantine painting.
Encyclopedia Record: Meteora
The Meteora is a rock formation in the regional unit of Trikala, in Thessaly, in northwestern Greece, hosting one of the most prominent complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries, viewed locally as second in importance only to Mount Athos. Their height is more than 20m.Additional Site Details
Area: 271.87 hectares
(ii) — Significant interchange of human values
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
(v) — Outstanding example of traditional human settlement
(vii) — Contains superlative natural phenomena or beauty
Coordinates: 39.71667 , 21.63333
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© W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
