Place your finger in the middle of Greece and there you will find a stone forest crowned with monasteries. These rocks reach so high that they are said to neighbor heaven.
Twenty-four monasteries were built high atop these formidable stone pillars sometime during the 13th and 14th centuries where they could practically reach out and touch the heavens and serve as a refuge from raids.
Only six of these monasteries remain. And thankfully for us, there are stone paths, narrow bridges, and dizzying spirals of stairs now carved into the pillars leading to the top–which seemed a far better way to reach the top than the makeshift ladders they lashed together in an impossibly long reach or the pulley systems and nets they used back in the 14th century.
We spent two long days making our way to five of the six. One was closed the day we were there.
Incredibly, once you reach the top, you’re treated to impossibly ornate and beautiful structures and gardens that defy your wildest imagination.
I can’t think of a more spectacular way of waiting out a few days while we have some work done on the boat. This long time bucket-list adventure was everything we hoped it would be and more. And that includes some epic trudges up formidable staircases to reach them. But we can now tell you how long it takes to reach heaven.
The six remaining monestaries
