Meteora

Hanging in the air, the rock formations of Meteora in Central Greece shoot hundreds of feet up from the earth, like giant fingers made of stone. No wonder these stones were chosen as a place for spiritual reflection and retreat by Eastern Orthodox hermit monks. Monks of the Eastern Orthodox Church chose these rock formations as their dwellings during the 11th century, selecting caves dug into the rocks to live in for their ascetic lifestyles. With time, however, more monks would come to Meteora, creating monasteries perched atop these rock formations during the 14th and 15th centuries. Meteora is now the second largest center of Orthodox Christian monasticism, ranking only behind Mount Athos, the self-governing monastic republic located in Halkidiki in Eastern Greece.
The word, meteora, in Greek literally means, "hanging in the air", and from this, we get the English word meteor. And, indeed, the gigantic rock formations of Meteora literally look as if they are suspended in the air. When one looks upon them it is as if they are floating, unconnected to anything. They just hover on high, shooting straight up toward the sky. The rocks themselves are located in a dried lake bed, which drained during prehistoric times, leaving these rock formations behind. This amazing place is a true crossroads of heaven and earth, human and the divine, natural and manmade. However, being able to distinguish one from the other can be quite confusing. For, the rocks are natural, and the monasteries which sit atop them are manmade. Yet, the monks who dwell in these monasteries are seeking a spiritually transcendent life, reaching for the things of heaven, whereas the rock formations are something natural, intrinsically bound to the earth. In this poetic confusion the great surrender to the mystery of the next life begins. It is as if these monks, so desperate to taste the divine, climb up as far as their natural abilities can take them. They scrape at the floor of heaven. They get as far as is naturally possible, before giving in and asking for the spiritual life to take them the rest of the way.
In the older days of Meteora, there were no steps, no staircases to take monks or pilgrims up to the monasteries. There were only baskets attached to ropes. In order to gain access to the monastery, a basket had to be lowered and the person would then be lifted in the basket up to the top of the rock formation. Today, Meteora has also become a center of tourism, with large buses precariously navigating the narrow two lane roads leading in and out from Metera to Kalambaka, the quaint Greek town located below the rocks. The monks bravely fought of Nazi invaders during World War II. Roger Moore as James Bond in the film For Your Eyes Only parachuted from these rocks. It is still, to Western tourists, very much a secret. Most of the tourists who come to Meteora come from Eastern Europe or are Orthodox Christian pilgrims, seeking out another element of the spiritual life of the Orthodox Church. Meteora is as breathtaking and spellbinding as any of the ancient ruins scattered throughout Greece, if not more so. Yet, it represents a spiritual tradition still very much alive, stretching out its fingers to touch heaven.

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/greece/meteora

http://www.greecetravel.com/meteora/monasteries.html